machvsmarchWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#35,130
“mach” frequency rank
#14,400
“march” frequency rank
49530
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mach march
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. Marchar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mach and march apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
mach
5 ch
march

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mach is [ˈmat͡ʃ] while march is /mɑːt͡ʃ/. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49530, 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]. march is at rank #14,400, tagged as averb, pronounced /mɑːt͡ʃ/.

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 49530, this pair ranks #108,298 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mach vs march

Shared letters: achm. Private to "mach": -. Private to "march": r.

"mach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "march" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machamch · macch · machh · mahc · mcah · mmach
  • marchamrch · macrh · marcch · marchh · marhc · marrch · mmarch · mrach

Frequency comparison

mach#35,130
march#14,400

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mach" and "march" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mach" is a noun and "march" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mach" or "march"?
"march" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,400 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.

Remembering mach vs march

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mach”; for a verb, it's “march”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mach” 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