Which to use
“Matte” is a noun and “mattes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,152
- “Matte” frequency rank
- #38,895
- “mattes” frequency rank
- 54047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Matte | mattes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine aus grobem Flechtwerk oder Gewebe aus Bast, Binsen, Schilf, Stroh, synthetischen Fasern oder Ähnlichem bestehende Unterlage oder dergleichen | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs matt |
Where the eye mixes Matte and mattes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Matte with mattes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Matte is [ˈmatə] while mattes is [ˈmatəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Matte” sits inside “mattes”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Matte is recorded at frequency rank #15,152, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmatə]. mattes is at rank #38,895, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmatəs].
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 54047, this pair ranks #1,034,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Matte vs mattes
Shared letters: aemt. Private to "Matte": -. Private to "mattes": s.
"Matte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mattes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Matte" and "mattes" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Matte" or "mattes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Matte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mattes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,034,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Matte" and "mattes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mattes vs Matze". 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 #1,034,172 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.