mêsvsmesasConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#444
“mês” frequency rank
#6,789
“mesas” frequency rank
7233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mês mesas
Definition cada uma das doze partes em que se divide o ano plural de mesa:

Where the eye mixes mês and mesas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
mês
5 ch
mesas

Why the eye confuses mês with mesas

A purely visual mix-up. mês (/ˈmeʃ/) and mesas (/ˈme.zɐs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mês is recorded at frequency rank #444, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmeʃ/. mesas is at rank #6,789, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈme.zɐs/.

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 7233, this pair ranks #66,951 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mês vs mesas

Shared letters: ms. Private to "mês": ê. Private to "mesas": ae.

"mês" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mesas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mesasemsas · meass · mesass · messas · mmesas · mseas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mês" and "mesas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmeʃ/ versus /ˈme.zɐs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mês" or "mesas" show up more?
"mês" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #444 in our Portuguese list, against #6,789 for "mesas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mês" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mesas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,951 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mês" and "mesas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mens vs mesas". 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 #66,951 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list