Ma or my?
ma is a noun meaning “mother, mama”; my is a determiner meaning “Belonging to me”. Use ma as a noun and my as a determiner (my is also a noun: “Symbol for megayear(s)”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) my is about 87 times as common as ma.
What is the difference between ma and my?
| ma | my | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, determiner, particle, infix, interfix | determiner, interjection, noun, pronoun, prefix |
| Meaning | colloquialmother, mama colloquialThe landlady of a theater May | Belonging to me Associated with me Used to express surprise, shock or amazement |
| Example | education + -ma- → edumacation | I can't find my book |
| Forms | mas | ma, mah, me, muh, I's |
| Pronunciation | /mɑː/ | /maɪ/ /mʌɪ/ [məi̯] |
| In writing | 43 times per million words | 3,715 times per million words |
Sources: ma and my in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of ma and my
ma
- 1
Initialism of moving average
- 2
Initialism of Master of Arts
- 3
Abbreviation of milli-arcsecond
- 4
colloquialmother, mama
- 5
May
- 6
informalAlternative spelling of my
- 7
Alternative form of mah
- 8
Alternative spelling of mah
my
- 1
Belonging to me
I can't find my book
- 2
Used to express surprise, shock or amazement
My, what big teeth you have!
- 3
Symbol for megayear(s)
- 4
Alternative letter-case form of my often used when speaking as God or another important figure who is understood from context
- 5
Initialism of motor yacht (“diesel-driven yacht”)
- 6
Relating to muscle
- 7
Associated with me
My seat at the restaurant was uncomfortable
- 8
Related to me
My parents won't let me go out tonight
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, ma or my?
ma appears 43 times per million words; my 3,715 times per million words.
ma 43 times per million wordsmy 3,715 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).