madvsmilWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,642
“mad” frequency rank
#379
“mil” frequency rank
15021
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mad mil
Definition Grafía alternativa de mat. Diez veces ciento.

Where the eye mixes mad and mil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
mad
3 ch
mil

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mad (/ˈmɑːt/) and mil ([ˈmil]) 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 15021, 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/. mil is at rank #379, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmil].

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 15021, this pair ranks #281,794 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mad vs mil

Shared letters: m. Private to "mad": ad. Private to "mil": il.

"mad" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mil" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mad" and "mil" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɑːt/ versus [ˈmil]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mad" or "mil"?
"mil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #379 in our Spanish list, against #14,642 for "mad". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list