mapsvsmaysWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,591
“maps” frequency rank
#44,064
“mays” frequency rank
53655
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maps mays
Definition Plural des Substantivs map das Artepitheton für den Mais (Zea mays)

Letter map: maps vs mays

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

4 ch
maps
4 ch
mays

Corpus notes: maps and mays

maps 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 - p in “maps” becomes y in “mays”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maps is recorded at frequency rank #9,591, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. 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 53655, this pair ranks #1,049,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maps vs mays

Shared letters: ams. Private to "maps": p. Private to "mays": y.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mapsamps · mapps · mapss · masp · mmaps · mpas
  • maysamys · masy · mayss · mayys · mmays · myas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "maps" and "mays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by a single letter - p in “maps” 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: "maps" vs "mays" - which ranks higher?
"maps" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,591 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 "maps" and "mays". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "maps" 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 #1,049,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maps" 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 #1,049,570 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