Which to use
“make” and “makes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #87
- “make” frequency rank
- #330
- “makes” frequency rank
- 417
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | make | makes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To create. | third-person singular simple present indicative of make |
Where the eye mixes make and makes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. make (/meɪk/) and makes (/meɪks/) 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 extra letter(s) - “make” sits inside “makes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
make is recorded at frequency rank #87, classified as averb, pronounced /meɪk/. 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 417, this pair ranks #529,454 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of make vs makes
Shared letters: aekm. Private to "make": -. Private to "makes": s.
"make" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "makes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC