Which to use
“makes” is a verb and “malos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,124
- “makes” frequency rank
- #2,121
- “malos” frequency rank
- 51245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | makes | malos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hace, Presente del modo indicativo para la tercera persona del singular del verbo make. | Forma del masculino plural de malo o mal. |
Where the eye mixes makes and malos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between makes and malos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: makes is /meɪks/ while malos is [ˈmalos]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
makes is recorded at frequency rank #49,124, classified as averb, pronounced /meɪks/. malos is at rank #2,121, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmalos].
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 51245, this pair ranks #98,873 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of makes vs malos
Shared letters: ams. Private to "makes": ek. Private to "malos": lo.
"makes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "malos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "makes" and "malos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "makes" or "malos" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "makes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "malos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,873 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "makes" and "malos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "makes vs Marks". 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 #98,873 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.