matevsmattWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mate is a noun, matt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mate” is a noun and “matt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,743
“mate” frequency rank
#2,744
“matt” frequency rank
5487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mate matt
Definition A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate. Alternative spelling of matte.

Letter map: mate vs matt

Shared letters muted; letters that set mate and matt apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

4 ch
mate
4 ch
matt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mate is anoun and mattanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “mate” becomes t in “matt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mate is recorded at frequency rank #2,743, classified as anoun, pronounced /meɪt/. matt is at rank #2,744, tagged as anadj.

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 5487, this pair ranks #515,155 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mate vs matt

Shared letters: amt. Private to "mate": e. Private to "matt": -.

"mate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "matt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mateamte · mmate · mtae
  • mattamtt · mmatt · mtat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mate" and "matt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mate" is a noun and "matt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mate" or "matt"?
"mate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,743 in our English list, against #2,744 for "matt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list