Which to use
“Melo” is a noun and “mesmo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,570
- “Melo” frequency rank
- #56
- “mesmo” frequency rank
- 4626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Melo | mesmo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sobrenome | que tem igualdade de caráter |
Where the eye mixes Melo and mesmo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Melo and mesmo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Melo is /ˈmɛ.lu/ while mesmo is /ˈmeʒ.mu/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Melo is recorded at frequency rank #4,570, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.lu/. mesmo is at rank #56, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmeʒ.mu/.
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 4626, this pair ranks #70,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Melo vs mesmo
Shared letters: emo. Private to "Melo": l. Private to "mesmo": s.
"Melo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mesmo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Melo" and "mesmo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Melo" vs "mesmo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Melo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mesmo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Melo" and "mesmo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Melo vs muso". 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 #70,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.