mamarvsmarTell them apart

Quick tell: mamar is a verb, mar is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mamar” is a verb and “mar” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,394
“mamar” frequency rank
#674
“mar” frequency rank
22068
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mamar mar
Definition Aspirar con fuerza, usando los labios y la succión de la garganta para extraer algo del material o recipiente que lo contiene, en particular la leche materna del seno. Cuerpo de agua salada que rodea los continentes de la Tierra.

Where the eye mixes mamar and mar

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

5 ch
mamar
3 ch
mar

Look-alike desk: mamar vs mar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mamar is [maˈmaɾ] while mar is [ˈmaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mar” sits inside “mamar”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mamar is recorded at frequency rank #21,394, classified as averb, pronounced [maˈmaɾ]. mar is at rank #674, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɾ].

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 22068, this pair ranks #252,092 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mamar vs mar

Shared letters: amr. Private to "mamar": -. Private to "mar": -.

"mamar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mar" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mamarmaamr · mamarr · mammar · mamra · mmaar · mmamar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mamar" for "mar" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mamar" is a verb and "mar" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mamar" or "mar"?
"mar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #674 in our Spanish list, against #21,394 for "mamar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mamar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #252,092 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mamar" and "mar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mamani vs mamar". 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 #252,092 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