malesvsmetalesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,985
“males” frequency rank
#7,879
“metales” frequency rank
16864
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature males metales
Definition Forma del plural de mal. Forma del plural de metal.

Where the eye mixes males and metales

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. males runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against metales's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
males
7 ch
metales

Look-alike desk: males vs metales

A purely visual mix-up. males ([ˈmales]) and metales ([meˈt̪ales]) 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 16864, 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]. metales is at rank #7,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced [meˈt̪ales].

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 16864, this pair ranks #274,485 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of males vs metales

Shared letters: aelms. Private to "males": -. Private to "metales": t.

"males" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "metales" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • males ← amles · maels · maless · malles · malse · mlaes · mmales
  • metales ← emtales · meatles · metaels · metaless · metalles · metalse · metlaes · mettales

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "males" and "metales" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmales] versus [meˈt̪ales]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "males" or "metales"?
"metales" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,879 in our Spanish list, against #8,985 for "males". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "males" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "metales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #274,485 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "males" and "metales" 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 #274,485 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