marevsmathWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,350
“mare” frequency rank
#48,531
“math” frequency rank
73881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mare math
Definition Madre. Matemáticas, abreviación de mathématiques .

Where the eye mixes mare and math

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mare (CVCV) and math (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
mare
4 ch
math

Look-alike desk: mare vs math

A purely visual mix-up. mare ([ˈma.ɾə]) and math (/matø/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mare is recorded at frequency rank #25,350, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈma.ɾə]. math is at rank #48,531, tagged as anoun, pronounced /matø/.

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 73881, this pair ranks #22,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mare vs math

Shared letters: am. Private to "mare": er. Private to "math": ht.

"mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "math" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mare ← amre · marre · mmare · mrae
  • math ← amth · maht · mathh · matth · mmath · mtah

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mare" for "math" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈma.ɾə] versus /matø/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mare" or "math"?
"mare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,350 in our Spanish list, against #48,531 for "math". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "math" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,401 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mare" and "math" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "math vs month". 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 #22,401 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