máquinavsmaquinasTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,356
“máquina” frequency rank
#16,152
“maquinas” frequency rank
18508
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature máquina maquinas
Definition Aparato compuesto de varias partes que interactúan para la ejecución de determinada tarea que requiere cierta energía. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de maquinar.

Where the eye mixes máquina and maquinas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. máquina runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against maquinas's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
máquina
8 ch
maquinas

Visual trap between máquina and maquinas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: máquina is [ˈmakina] while maquinas is [maˈkinas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18508, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

máquina is recorded at frequency rank #2,356, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmakina]. maquinas is at rank #16,152, tagged as averb, pronounced [maˈkinas].

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 18508, this pair ranks #267,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of máquina vs maquinas

Shared letters: aimnqu. Private to "máquina": á. Private to "maquinas": s.

"máquina" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "maquinas" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maquinas ← amquinas · maqiunas · maqquinas · maquians · maquinass · maquinnas · maquinsa · maqunias

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "máquina" and "maquinas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "máquina" is a noun and "maquinas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "máquina" or "maquinas"?
"máquina" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,356 in our Spanish list, against #16,152 for "maquinas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "máquina" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "maquinas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #267,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "máquina" and "maquinas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maquinas vs Marquina". 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 #267,642 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