mustvsmutoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: must is a noun, muto is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“must” is a noun and “muto” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,586
“must” frequency rank
#43,549
“muto” frequency rank
61135
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature must muto
Definition algo necessário, geralmente por estar na moda, por ser muito popular ou básico mudar algo de sítio, remover.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set must and muto apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
must
4 ch
muto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: must is anoun and mutoaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61135, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

must is recorded at frequency rank #17,586, classified as anoun. muto is at rank #43,549, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmuː.toː/.

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 61135, this pair ranks #7,290 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of must vs muto

Shared letters: mtu. Private to "must": s. Private to "muto": o.

"must" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "muto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mustmmust · msut · musst · mustt · muts · umst
  • mutommuto · mtuo · muot · mutto · umto

Frequency comparison

must#17,586
muto#43,549

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "must" and "muto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "must" is a noun and "muto" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "must" or "muto"?
"must" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,586 in our Portuguese list, against #43,549 for "muto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering must vs muto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “must”; for a verb, it's “muto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “must” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list