malvavsmaraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,657
“malva” frequency rank
#13,956
“mara” frequency rank
60613
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature malva mara
Definition Planta florada de la familia de las malváceas y la flor de dicha planta. Pandilla de jóvenes urbanos, especialmente la de comportamiento antisocial o delictivo.

Where the eye mixes malva and mara

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

5 ch
malva
4 ch
mara

Look-alike desk: malva vs mara

A purely visual mix-up. malva ([ˈmalβ̞a]) and mara ([ˈmaɾa]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

malva is recorded at frequency rank #46,657, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmalβ̞a]. mara is at rank #13,956, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɾa].

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 60613, this pair ranks #58,330 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of malva vs mara

Shared letters: am. Private to "malva": lv. Private to "mara": r.

"malva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malvaamlva · malav · malba · mallva · malvva · mavla · mlava · mmalva
  • maramarra · mmara · mraa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "malva" and "mara" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmalβ̞a] versus [ˈmaɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "malva" or "mara"?
"mara" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,956 in our Spanish list, against #46,657 for "malva". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "malva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mara" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,330 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "malva" and "mara" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malva vs Matta". 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 #58,330 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