Which to use
“mata” and “may” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,084
- “mata” frequency rank
- #5,282
- “may” frequency rank
- 45366
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mata | may |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural des Substantivs mace | fünfter Monat im Kalenderjahr; Mai |
Where the eye mixes mata and may
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mata and may
A purely visual mix-up. mata ([máːtáː]) and may ([mɑj]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mata is recorded at frequency rank #40,084, classified as anoun, pronounced [máːtáː]. may is at rank #5,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɑj].
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 45366, this pair ranks #1,355,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mata vs may
Shared letters: am. Private to "mata": t. Private to "may": y.
"mata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "may" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mata ← amta · maat · matta · mmata · mtaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mata" for "may" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mata" or "may"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mata" and "may" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "may" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,355,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mata" and "may" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mata vs mora". 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 #1,355,466 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.