makesvsmasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,890
“makes” frequency rank
#17,981
“mas” frequency rank
56871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature makes mas
Definition Plural des Substantivs make der Bauernhof, das Bauernhaus

Where the eye mixes makes and mas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
makes
3 ch
mas

Look-alike desk: makes vs mas

A purely visual mix-up. makes ([meɪks]) and mas ([mas]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

makes is recorded at frequency rank #38,890, classified as anoun, pronounced [meɪks]. mas is at rank #17,981, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mas].

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 56871, this pair ranks #923,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of makes vs mas

Shared letters: ams. Private to "makes": ek. Private to "mas": -.

"makes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • makesamkes · maeks · makess · makkes · mkaes · mmakes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "makes" and "mas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([meɪks] versus [mas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "makes" or "mas"?
"mas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,981 in our German list, against #38,890 for "makes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "makes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #923,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "makes" and "mas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "makes vs Mals". 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 #923,462 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