mecvsmuiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mec is a adjective, mui is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mec” is an adjective and “mui” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,225
“mec” frequency rank
#23,741
“mui” frequency rank
31966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mec mui
Definition tranquilo em alto grau

Letter map: mec vs mui

Shared letters muted; letters that set mec and mui apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
mec
3 ch
mui

Role in the sentence - mec and mui

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mec is anadjective and muianadverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mec is recorded at frequency rank #8,225, classified as anadj. mui is at rank #23,741, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈmũj/.

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 31966, this pair ranks #35,965 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mec vs mui

Shared letters: m. Private to "mec": ce. Private to "mui": iu.

"mec" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mec" and "mui" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mec" is an adjective and "mui" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mec" or "mui"?
"mec" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,225 in our Portuguese list, against #23,741 for "mui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "mec" vs "mui" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mec" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,965 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mec" and "mui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #35,965 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list