machadovsmanchadaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: machado is a noun, manchada is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“machado” is a noun and “manchada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,704
“machado” frequency rank
#31,432
“manchada” frequency rank
42136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machado manchada
Definition Herramienta para cortar madera. Forma del femenino de manchado, participio de manchar.

Where the eye mixes machado and manchada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
machado
8 ch
manchada

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: machado is [maˈt͡ʃað̞o] while manchada is [mãnʲˈt͡ʃað̞a]. 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 participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42136, 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]. manchada is at rank #31,432, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [mãnʲˈt͡ʃað̞a].

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 42136, this pair ranks #149,912 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machado vs manchada

Shared letters: acdhm. Private to "machado": o. Private to "manchada": n.

"machado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "manchada" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machadoamchado · macahdo · macchado · machaddo · machaod · machdao · machhado · mahcado
  • manchadaamnchada · macnhada · mancahda · mancchada · manchaad · manchadda · manchdaa · manchhada

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "machado" and "manchada" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "machado" is a noun and "manchada" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "machado" or "manchada"?
"machado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,704 in our Spanish list, against #31,432 for "manchada". 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