'Mail' is the postal delivery or email; 'male' refers to the masculine sex.
Noun: letters, parcels, or email sent or received. Verb: to send something by post.
There is a pile of mail on your desk — mostly invoices.
Please mail the signed contract to our head office.
I'll send the invoice by email as an attachment.
Adjective/noun. Relating to the sex that produces sperm. Used for animals, plants, and people.
The study surveyed 200 male and 200 female participants.
A male lion is called a lion; a female is called a lioness.
The clinic serves both male and female patients.
Common mistake
Orthographic confusion in fast messages. Typical mistake: confusing 'mail' (postal or email) with 'male' (masculine) in a sentence like "Check your male" instead of "Check your mail".
Trick to remember it
'Mail' ends in AI like 'air mail'. 'Male' ends in ALE — think of a male as an ALE-drinking classic archetype, or just remember: mALE contains 'ALE'.
Quick rule
Is it about postal delivery or electronic messages? 'Mail'. Is it about the masculine sex? 'Male'.
Did you know?
Email (electronic mail) was invented in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, who also chose the @ symbol to separate the username from the server. The first email address in history was 'tomlinson@bbn-tenexa'.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
The study found that _____ participants scored higher on spatial reasoning tasks.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Could you check the _____ and tell me if the invoice arrived?
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Is it about postal delivery or electronic messages? 'Mail'. Is it about the masculine sex? 'Male'.
Orthographic confusion in fast messages. Typical mistake: confusing 'mail' (postal or email) with 'male' (masculine) in a sentence like "Check your male" instead of "Check your mail".
'Mail' ends in AI like 'air mail'. 'Male' ends in ALE — think of a male as an ALE-drinking classic archetype, or just remember: mALE contains 'ALE'.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy