macvsmaysTell them apart

Which to use

“mac” and “mays” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,810
“mac” frequency rank
#44,064
“mays” frequency rank
48874
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mac mays
Definition weites Kleidungsstück mit Ärmeln, das mindestens bis zu den Knien reicht und wasserdicht ist das Artepitheton für den Mais (Zea mays)

Letter map: mac vs mays

Shared letters muted; letters that set mac and mays apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
mac
4 ch
mays

Pair insight - mac / mays

mac and mays are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mac is recorded at frequency rank #4,810, classified as anoun, pronounced [mæk]. mays is at rank #44,064, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 48874, this pair ranks #1,232,327 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mac vs mays

Shared letters: am. Private to "mac": c. Private to "mays": sy.

"mac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maysamys · masy · mayss · mayys · mmays · myas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mac" for "mays" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "mac" vs "mays" - which ranks higher?
"mac" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,810 in our German list, against #44,064 for "mays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "mac" and "mays".

  • Full dictionary entry for "mac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,232,327 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mac" and "mays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mays vs puzzles". 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 #1,232,327 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list