Which to use
“mad” is an adjective and “mar” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,642
- “mad” frequency rank
- #674
- “mar” frequency rank
- 15316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mad | mar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grafía alternativa de mat. | Cuerpo de agua salada que rodea los continentes de la Tierra. |
Where the eye mixes mad and mar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mad is /ˈmɑːt/ while mar is [ˈmaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “mad” becomes r in “mar”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mad is recorded at frequency rank #14,642, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɑːt/. mar is at rank #674, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɾ].
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 15316, this pair ranks #280,672 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mad vs mar
Shared letters: am. Private to "mad": d. Private to "mar": r.
"mad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mar" · 3 letters · shape CVC