Which to use
“mach” is a noun and “mad” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,130
- “mach” frequency rank
- #14,642
- “mad” frequency rank
- 49772
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mach | mad |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Medida de velocidad relativa que se define como el cociente entre la velocidad de un objeto y la velocidad del sonido en el medio en que se mueve dicho objeto. | Grafía alternativa de mat. |
Where the eye mixes mach and mad
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mach with mad
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mach is [ˈmat͡ʃ] while mad is /ˈmɑːt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mach is recorded at frequency rank #35,130, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat͡ʃ]. mad is at rank #14,642, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɑːt/.
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 49772, this pair ranks #106,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mach vs mad
Shared letters: am. Private to "mach": ch. Private to "mad": d.
"mach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "mad" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mach ← amch · macch · machh · mahc · mcah · mmach
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mach" and "mad" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mach" or "mad" show up more?
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 "mach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mad" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #106,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mach" and "mad" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mach vs math". 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 #106,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.