MacsvsmaysConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#41,330
“Macs” frequency rank
#44,064
“mays” frequency rank
85394
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Macs mays
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Mac das Artepitheton für den Mais (Zea mays)

Letter map: Macs vs mays

Shared letters muted; letters that set Macs and mays apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Macs (CVCC) and mays (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Macs
4 ch
mays

Spelling & dictionary notes on Macs vs mays

Macs 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 a single letter - c in “Macs” becomes y in “mays”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Macs is recorded at frequency rank #41,330, classified as anoun, pronounced [mɛks]. 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 85394, this pair ranks #109,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Macs vs mays

Shared letters: ams. Private to "Macs": c. Private to "mays": y.

"Macs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Macs ← amcs · maccs · macss · masc · mcas · mmacs
  • mays ← amys · masy · mayss · mayys · mmays · myas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Macs" and "mays" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - c in “Macs” becomes y in “mays”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "Macs" vs "mays" - which ranks higher?
"Macs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,330 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.

After this comparison

You've compared "Macs" and "mays". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Macs" 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 #109,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Macs" 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 #109,010 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