mudavsmultaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,431
“muda” frequency rank
#4,498
“multa” frequency rank
6929
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature muda multa
Definition mulher que não fala ato ou efeito de multar

Where the eye mixes muda and multa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
muda
5 ch
multa

Visual trap between muda and multa

A purely visual mix-up. muda (/ˈmu.dɐ/) and multa (/ˈmuɫ.tɐ/) 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 6929, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

muda is recorded at frequency rank #2,431, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmu.dɐ/. multa is at rank #4,498, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmuɫ.tɐ/.

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 6929, this pair ranks #67,358 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of muda vs multa

Shared letters: amu. Private to "muda": d. Private to "multa": lt.

"muda" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "multa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mudamdua · mmuda · muad · mudda · umda
  • multamluta · mmulta · mulat · mullta · multta · mutla · umlta

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "muda" and "multa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmu.dɐ/ versus /ˈmuɫ.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "muda" vs "multa" - which ranks higher?
"muda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,431 in our Portuguese list, against #4,498 for "multa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "muda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "multa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,358 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "muda" and "multa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs muda". 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 #67,358 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