Which to use
“madre” and “mae” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #287
- “madre” frequency rank
- #17,199
- “mae” frequency rank
- 17486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | madre | mae |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Progenitora de sexo femenino. | Tratamiento coloquial y general para personas, especialmente jóvenes del sexo masculino. |
Where the eye mixes madre and mae
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: madre vs mae
A purely visual mix-up. madre ([ˈmað̞ɾe]) and mae ([ˈmae]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
madre is recorded at frequency rank #287, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmað̞ɾe]. mae is at rank #17,199, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmae].
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 17486, this pair ranks #271,896 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of madre vs mae
Shared letters: aem. Private to "madre": dr. Private to "mae": -.
"madre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mae" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- madre ← amdre · maddre · mader · madrre · marde · mdare · mmadre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "madre" for "mae" ever safe?
Which is more common, "madre" or "mae"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "madre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mae" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,896 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "madre" and "mae" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mae vs mur". 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 #271,896 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.