machuvsmochaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#30,558
“machu” frequency rank
#44,870
“mocha” frequency rank
75428
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machu mocha
Definition Viejo, anciano Mocachino.

Where the eye mixes machu and mocha

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

5 ch
machu
5 ch
mocha

Visual trap between machu and mocha

A purely visual mix-up. machu ([ˈma.ʧu]) and mocha ([ˈmot͡ʃa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75428, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machu is recorded at frequency rank #30,558, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈma.ʧu]. mocha is at rank #44,870, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmot͡ʃa].

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 75428, this pair ranks #19,566 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of machu vs mocha

Shared letters: achm. Private to "machu": u. Private to "mocha": o.

"machu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mocha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machuamchu · macchu · machhu · macuh · mahcu · mcahu · mmachu
  • mochamcoha · mmocha · mocah · moccha · mochha · mohca · omcha

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "machu" for "mocha" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈma.ʧu] versus [ˈmot͡ʃa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "machu" or "mocha"?
"machu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,558 in our Spanish list, against #44,870 for "mocha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "machu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mocha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #19,566 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machu" and "mocha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macha vs mocha". 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 #19,566 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