machadovsmachoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,704
“machado” frequency rank
#4,802
“macho” frequency rank
15506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machado macho
Definition Herramienta para cortar madera. En las especies de reproducción sexual, uno de los dos sexos, aquel que aporta el gameto de menor tamaño al cigoto y que entre los vertebrados no gesta internamente en ningún momento.

Where the eye mixes machado and macho

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
machado
5 ch
macho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. machado ([maˈt͡ʃað̞o]) and macho ([ˈmat͡ʃo]) 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 15506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machado is recorded at frequency rank #10,704, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈt͡ʃað̞o]. macho is at rank #4,802, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmat͡ʃo].

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 15506, this pair ranks #279,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of machado vs macho

Shared letters: achmo. Private to "machado": d. Private to "macho": -.

"machado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "macho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machadoamchado · macahdo · macchado · machaddo · machaod · machdao · machhado · mahcado
  • machoamcho · maccho · machho · macoh · mahco · mcaho · mmacho

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "machado" and "macho" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maˈt͡ʃað̞o] versus [ˈmat͡ʃo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "machado" or "macho"?
"macho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,802 in our Spanish list, against #10,704 for "machado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list