mentevsmoteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#990
“mente” frequency rank
#18,928
“mote” frequency rank
19918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mente mote
Definition conjunto das ideias e convicções de uma pessoa; o resultado do trabalho cerebral de uma pessoal, intangível mas perceptível em sua forma de raciocinar partícula de pó

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
mente
4 ch
mote

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mente (/ˈmẽ.t͡ʃi/) and mote (/moʊt/) 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 19918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mente is recorded at frequency rank #990, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmẽ.t͡ʃi/. mote is at rank #18,928, tagged as anoun, pronounced /moʊt/.

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 19918, this pair ranks #50,705 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mente vs mote

Shared letters: emt. Private to "mente": n. Private to "mote": o.

"mente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • menteemnte · menet · mennte · mentte · metne · mmente · mnete
  • motemmote · moet · motte · mtoe · omte

Frequency comparison

mente#990
mote#18,928

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mente" and "mote" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmẽ.t͡ʃi/ versus /moʊt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mente" or "mote"?
"mente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #990 in our Portuguese list, against #18,928 for "mote". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mente vs mote

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 “mente” 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