Which to use
“mago” and “mayo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,140
- “mago” frequency rank
- #503
- “mayo” frequency rank
- 8643
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mago | mayo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Persona que practica la magia. | Según los calendarios juliano y gregoriano, quinto mes del año. |
Where the eye mixes mago and mayo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mago with mayo
A purely visual mix-up. mago ([ˈmaɣ̞o]) and mayo ([ˈmaʝo]) 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 a single letter - g in “mago” becomes y in “mayo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mago is recorded at frequency rank #8,140, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɣ̞o]. mayo is at rank #503, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʝo].
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 8643, this pair ranks #304,402 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mago vs mayo
Shared letters: amo. Private to "mago": g. Private to "mayo": y.
"mago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mayo" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mago" for "mayo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mago" vs "mayo" - which ranks higher?
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 "mago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mayo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #304,402 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mago" and "mayo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mago vs math". 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 #304,402 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.