Which to use
“mein” is a pronoun and “meio” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,545
- “mein” frequency rank
- #190
- “meio” frequency rank
- 36735
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mein | meio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meu, minha, pronome possessivo da primeira pessoa do singular: | designativo de metade |
Where the eye mixes mein and meio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mein (CVVC) and meio (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: mein vs meio
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mein is /maɪ̯n/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while meio is /ˈmɐj.u/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “mein” becomes o in “meio”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mein is recorded at frequency rank #36,545, classified as apron, pronounced /maɪ̯n/ ouvir^(fonte ?). meio is at rank #190, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɐj.u/.
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 36735, this pair ranks #30,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mein vs meio
Shared letters: eim. Private to "mein": n. Private to "meio": o.
"mein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "meio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mein" for "meio" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mein" or "meio" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mein" and "meio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mein vs mens". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #30,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.