mayovsmemoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mayo is a noun, memo is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mayo” is a noun and “memo” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,251
“mayo” frequency rank
#35,681
“memo” frequency rank
65932
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mayo memo
Definition maio mesmo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mayo and memo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mayo
4 ch
memo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mayo is anoun and memoanadverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mayo is recorded at frequency rank #30,251, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈma.ʝo/. memo is at rank #35,681, tagged as anadv.

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 65932, this pair ranks #5,177 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mayo vs memo

Shared letters: mo. Private to "mayo": ay. Private to "memo": e.

"mayo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "memo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mayoamyo · maoy · mayyo · mmayo · myao
  • memoemmo · memmo · meom · mmemo · mmeo

Frequency comparison

mayo#30,251
memo#35,681

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mayo" and "memo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mayo" is a noun and "memo" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mayo" or "memo"?
"mayo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,251 in our Portuguese list, against #35,681 for "memo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mayo vs memo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mayo”; for an adverb, it's “memo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mayo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list