Which to use
“mesa” and “mesas” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,364
- “mesa” frequency rank
- #6,789
- “mesas” frequency rank
- 8153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mesa | mesas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | móvel usado como superfície para se alimentar, conversar, estudar; távola | plural de mesa: |
Where the eye mixes mesa and mesas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mesa vs mesas
A purely visual mix-up. mesa (/ˈme.zɐ/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “mesa” sits inside “mesas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mesa is recorded at frequency rank #1,364, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈme.zɐ/. 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 8153, this pair ranks #65,740 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mesa vs mesas
Shared letters: aems. Private to "mesa": -. Private to "mesas": -.
"mesa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mesas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mesa" for "mesas" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mesa" or "mesas"?
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 "mesa" 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 #65,740 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mesa" 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 #65,740 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.