Which to use
“may” is a verb and “mês” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,226
- “may” frequency rank
- #444
- “mês” frequency rank
- 5670
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | may | mês |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | obter permissão. Também utilizado quando se deseja fazer um pedido, de maneira cortês. | cada uma das doze partes em que se divide o ano |
Where the eye mixes may and mês
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between may and mês
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: may is /meɪ/ while mês is /ˈmeʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
may is recorded at frequency rank #5,226, classified as averb, pronounced /meɪ/. mês is at rank #444, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmeʃ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 5670, this pair ranks #68,907 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of may vs mês
Shared letters: m. Private to "may": ay. Private to "mês": sê.
"may" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mês" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "may" and "mês" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "may" or "mês" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "may" and "mês" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "may" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mês" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,907 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "may" and "mês" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs may". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #68,907 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.