machvsmechaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,130
“mach” frequency rank
#19,797
“mecha” frequency rank
54927
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mach mecha
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. Cuerda preparada para arder de distintas maneras, usada en velas o explosivos.

Where the eye mixes mach and mecha

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mach
5 ch
mecha

Visual trap between mach and mecha

A purely visual mix-up. mach ([ˈmat͡ʃ]) and mecha ([ˈmet͡ʃa]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54927, 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]. mecha is at rank #19,797, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmet͡ʃa].

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 54927, this pair ranks #81,177 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mach vs mecha

Shared letters: achm. Private to "mach": -. Private to "mecha": e.

"mach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mecha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machamch · macch · machh · mahc · mcah · mmach
  • mechaemcha · mceha · mecah · meccha · mechha · mehca · mmecha

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mach" for "mecha" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmat͡ʃ] versus [ˈmet͡ʃa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mach" or "mecha"?
"mecha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,797 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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "mach" and "mecha" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mecha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #81,177 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mach" and "mecha" 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 #81,177 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