Mais vs maison, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#9,409
“Mais” frequency rank: #34,795
“maison” frequency rank: 44204
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Mais	maison
Definition	Botanik:	Haus

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Mais and maison apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

Mais

6 ch

maison

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Mais ([maɪ̯s]) and maison ([mɛzɔ̃]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Mais” sits inside “maison”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mais is recorded at frequency rank #9,409, classified as anoun, pronounced [maɪ̯s]. maison is at rank #34,795, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛzɔ̃].

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 44204, this pair ranks #1,393,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mais vs maison

Shared letters: aims. Private to "Mais": -. Private to "maison": no.

"Mais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "maison" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

Mais ← amis · maiss · masi · mias · mmais
maison ← amison · maiosn · maisno · maisonn · maisson · masion · miason · mmaison

Frequency comparison

Mais#9,409

maison#34,795

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mais" and "maison" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([maɪ̯s] versus [mɛzɔ̃]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "Mais" or "maison"?

"Mais" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,409 in our German list, against #34,795 for "maison". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Mais vs maison

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Mais” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable