mestravsmostrasConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#21,241
“mestra” frequency rank
#15,403
“mostras” frequency rank
36644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mestra mostras
Definition abelha-rainha de uma colmeia plural de mostra

Letter map: mestra vs mostras

Shared letters muted; letters that set mestra and mostras apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. mestra runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against mostras's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
mestra
7 ch
mostras

Corpus notes: mestra and mostras

mestra and mostras are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mestra is recorded at frequency rank #21,241, classified as anoun. mostras is at rank #15,403, tagged as anoun.

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 36644, this pair ranks #30,106 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mestra vs mostras

Shared letters: amrst. Private to "mestra": e. Private to "mostras": o.

"mestra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "mostras" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mestra ← emstra · mesrta · messtra · mestar · mestrra · mesttra · metsra · mmestra
  • mostras ← mmostras · mosrtas · mosstras · mostars · mostrass · mostrras · mostrsa · mosttras

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mestra" for "mostras" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mestra" or "mostras" show up more?
"mostras" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,403 in our Portuguese list, against #21,241 for "mestra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "mestra" and "mostras". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mestra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mostras" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,106 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mestra" and "mostras" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mestra vs mitra". 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 #30,106 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