madvsmuyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mad is a adjective, muy is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mad” is an adjective and “muy” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,642
“mad” frequency rank
#46
“muy” frequency rank
14688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mad muy
Definition Grafía alternativa de mat. Expresa grado intenso, extenso o de abundancia de la característica del adjetivo o adverbio al que precede y es caracterizado como un adverbio de cantidad o modo..

Where the eye mixes mad and muy

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

3 ch
mad
3 ch
muy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mad is /ˈmɑːt/ while muy is [ˈmuj]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14688, 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/. muy is at rank #46, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈmuj].

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 14688, this pair ranks #283,160 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mad vs muy

Shared letters: m. Private to "mad": ad. Private to "muy": uy.

"mad" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "muy" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mad" and "muy" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mad" is an adjective and "muy" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mad" or "muy"?
"muy" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46 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