Which to use
“meio” is an adjective and “mês” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #190
- “meio” frequency rank
- #444
- “mês” frequency rank
- 634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | meio | mês |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | designativo de metade | cada uma das doze partes em que se divide o ano |
Where the eye mixes meio and mês
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: meio vs mês
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meio is /ˈmɐj.u/ while mês is /ˈmeʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
meio is recorded at frequency rank #190, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɐj.u/. 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 634, this pair ranks #75,036 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of meio vs mês
Shared letters: m. Private to "meio": eio. Private to "mês": sê.
"meio" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "mês" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- meio ← emio · meoi · mieo · mmeio
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "meio" and "mês" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "meio" or "mês"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "meio" and "mês" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "meio" 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 #75,036 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "meio" and "mês" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs mês". 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 #75,036 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.