Which to use
“mages” is a noun and “makes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,499
- “mages” frequency rank
- #330
- “makes” frequency rank
- 45829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mages | makes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of mage | third-person singular simple present indicative of make |
Where the eye mixes mages and makes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mages and makes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mages is /ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒɪz/ while makes is /meɪks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “mages” becomes k in “makes”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mages is recorded at frequency rank #45,499, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmeɪ.d͡ʒɪz/. makes is at rank #330, tagged as averb, pronounced /meɪks/.
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 45829, this pair ranks #217,524 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mages vs makes
Shared letters: aems. Private to "mages": g. Private to "makes": k.
"mages" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "makes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mages" and "makes" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "mages" or "makes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mages" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "makes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #217,524 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mages" and "makes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mages vs MGS". 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 #217,524 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.