mamávsmemWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#866
“mamá” frequency rank
#44,311
“mem” frequency rank
45177
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mamá mem
Definition Mujer con quien alguien tiene una relación filial, especialmente si fue engendrado por ella. Decimotercera letra del alfabeto hebreo

Where the eye mixes mamá and mem

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mamá
3 ch
mem

Look-alike desk: mamá vs mem

A purely visual mix-up. mamá ([maˈma]) and mem ([ˈmẽm]) 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 45177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mamá is recorded at frequency rank #866, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈma]. mem is at rank #44,311, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmẽm].

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 45177, this pair ranks #132,946 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mamá vs mem

Shared letters: m. Private to "mamá": . Private to "mem": e.

"mamá" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mem" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mamá" and "mem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([maˈma] versus [ˈmẽm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mamá" vs "mem" - which ranks higher?
"mamá" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #866 in our Spanish list, against #44,311 for "mem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mamá" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #132,946 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mamá" and "mem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mem vs mur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #132,946 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