machvsmanchaTell them apart

Which to use

“mach” and “mancha” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,130
“mach” frequency rank
#4,442
“mancha” frequency rank
39572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mach mancha
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. Marca que queda en una superficie al derramar alguna sustancia que tiña.

Where the eye mixes mach and mancha

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mach
6 ch
mancha

Look-alike desk: mach vs mancha

A purely visual mix-up. mach ([ˈmat͡ʃ]) and mancha ([ˈmãnʲt͡ʃa]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39572, 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]. mancha is at rank #4,442, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmãnʲt͡ʃa].

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 39572, this pair ranks #163,790 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mach vs mancha

Shared letters: achm. Private to "mach": -. Private to "mancha": n.

"mach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mancha" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machamch · macch · machh · mahc · mcah · mmach
  • manchaamncha · macnha · mancah · manccha · manchha · manhca · manncha · mmancha

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mach" and "mancha" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmat͡ʃ] versus [ˈmãnʲt͡ʃa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mach" or "mancha" show up more?
"mancha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,442 in our Spanish list, against #35,130 for "mach". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "mancha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #163,790 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mach" and "mancha" 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 #163,790 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list