metalvsmortalConfusable pair

Quick tell: metal is a noun, mortal is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“metal” is a noun and “mortal” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,027
“metal” frequency rank
#5,555
“mortal” frequency rank
8582
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature metal mortal
Definition toda substância simples, dotada de brilho próprio (brilho metálico), boa condutora de calor e de eletricidade, que forma óxidos básicos em contato com o oxigênio, e que na eletrólise se dirige ao pólo negativo que está sujeito à morte

Letter map: metal vs mortal

Shared letters muted; letters that set metal and mortal apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
metal
6 ch
mortal

Role in the sentence - metal and mortal

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: metal is anoun and mortalanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

metal is recorded at frequency rank #3,027, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈtaɫ/. mortal is at rank #5,555, tagged as anadj.

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 8582, this pair ranks #65,141 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of metal vs mortal

Shared letters: almt. Private to "metal": e. Private to "mortal": or.

"metal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mortal" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • metalemtal · meatl · metall · metla · mettal · mmetal · mteal
  • mortalmmortal · moratl · morrtal · mortall · mortla · morttal · motral · mrotal

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "metal" for "mortal" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "metal" is a noun and "mortal" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "metal" or "mortal" show up more?
"metal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,027 in our Portuguese list, against #5,555 for "mortal". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "metal" vs "mortal" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "metal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mortal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,141 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "metal" and "mortal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mortal vs mortalha". 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 #65,141 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