mensvsmesesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“mens” and “meses” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,487
“mens” frequency rank
#366
“meses” frequency rank
47853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mens meses
Definition pessoa, humano, homem plural de mês

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mens and meses apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mens
5 ch
meses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mens ([ mɛns ]) and meses (/ˈme.zis/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mens is recorded at frequency rank #47,487, classified as anoun, pronounced [ mɛns ]. meses is at rank #366, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈme.zis/.

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 47853, this pair ranks #17,356 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mens vs meses

Shared letters: ems. Private to "mens": n. Private to "meses": -.

"mens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "meses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mensemns · menns · menss · mesn · mmens · mnes
  • mesesemses · meess · mesess · messes · mmeses · msees

Frequency comparison

mens#47,487
meses#366

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mens" and "meses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ mɛns ] versus /ˈme.zis/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mens" or "meses"?
"meses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #366 in our Portuguese list, against #47,487 for "mens". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mens vs meses

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mens” 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