Which to use
“mais” is a conjunction and “mal” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,283
- “mais” frequency rank
- #193
- “mal” frequency rank
- 32476
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mais | mal |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pero. | Carencia de bondad. |
Where the eye mixes mais and mal
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mais with mal
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mais is [mɛ] while mal is [ˈmal]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mais is recorded at frequency rank #32,283, classified as aconj, pronounced [mɛ]. mal is at rank #193, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmal].
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 32476, this pair ranks #201,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mais vs mal
Shared letters: am. Private to "mais": is. Private to "mal": l.
"mais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mal" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mais ← maiss · masi · mmais
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mais" and "mal" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mais" vs "mal" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #201,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mais" and "mal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mais vs makes". 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 #201,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.