maivsmásWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,397
“mai” frequency rank
#24
“más” frequency rank
14421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mai más
Definition Jamás o nunca. En comparación implícita o explícita, indica "mayor cantidad de, exceso, aumento, superioridad, preferencia". Comparativo irregular de mucho

Where the eye mixes mai and más

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

3 ch
mai
3 ch
más

Why the eye confuses mai with más

A purely visual mix-up. mai ([ˈmaj]) and más ([ˈmas]) 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 14421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mai is recorded at frequency rank #14,397, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈmaj]. más is at rank #24, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈmas].

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 14421, this pair ranks #284,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mai vs más

Shared letters: m. Private to "mai": ai. Private to "más": .

"mai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "más" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mai" and "más" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaj] versus [ˈmas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mai" vs "más" - which ranks higher?
"más" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24 in our Spanish list, against #14,397 for "mai". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "más" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mai" and "más" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mai vs mur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #284,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list