malesvsmesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,985
“males” frequency rank
#403
“mes” frequency rank
9388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature males mes
Definition Forma del plural de mal. Cada una de las doce partes, de duración variable según el sistema pero similar al ciclo lunar, en que se divide el año.

Where the eye mixes males and mes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
males
3 ch
mes

Why the eye confuses males with mes

A purely visual mix-up. males ([ˈmales]) and mes ([ˈmes]) 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 9388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

males is recorded at frequency rank #8,985, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmales]. mes is at rank #403, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmes].

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 9388, this pair ranks #302,095 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of males vs mes

Shared letters: ems. Private to "males": al. Private to "mes": -.

"males" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malesamles · maels · maless · malles · malse · mlaes · mmales

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "males" for "mes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmales] versus [ˈmes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "males" or "mes" show up more?
"mes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #403 in our Spanish list, against #8,985 for "males". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "males" and "mes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "males" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #302,095 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "males" and "mes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "makes vs males". 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 #302,095 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