Which to use
“mach” and “maíz” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,130
- “mach” frequency rank
- #4,806
- “maíz” frequency rank
- 39936
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mach | maíz |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | (Zea mays) Planta anual, herbácea, de la familia de las poáceas, originaria de América y hoy cultivada en todo el mundo como alimento. Tiene tallos erectos, en forma de caña, de hasta 3 m de altura, hojas densamente apretadas que protegen las inflorescencias femeninas y un penacho terminal de flores masculinas. La espádice femenina se transforma en un fruto compuesto llamado mazorca, con los granos dispuestos en hileras sobre un eje leñoso |
Where the eye mixes mach and maíz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mach (CVCC) and maíz (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses mach with maíz
A purely visual mix-up. mach ([ˈmat͡ʃ]) and maíz ([maˈis]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39936, 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]. maíz is at rank #4,806, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maˈis].
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 39936, this pair ranks #161,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mach vs maíz
Shared letters: am. Private to "mach": ch. Private to "maíz": zí.
"mach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "maíz" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mach ← amch · macch · machh · mahc · mcah · mmach
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mach" and "maíz" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mach" or "maíz" show up more?
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 "mach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maíz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #161,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mach" and "maíz" 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 #161,835 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.