Which to use
“mates” is a noun and “Mathis” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,248
- “mates” frequency rank
- #33,731
- “Mathis” frequency rank
- 40979
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mates | Mathis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of mate | A surname. |
Letter map: mates vs Mathis
Shared letters muted; letters that set mates and Mathis apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Role in the sentence - mates and Mathis
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mates is anoun and Mathisaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40979, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mates is recorded at frequency rank #7,248, classified as anoun, pronounced /meɪts/. Mathis is at rank #33,731, tagged as aname.
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 40979, this pair ranks #262,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mates vs Mathis
Shared letters: amst. Private to "mates": e. Private to "Mathis": hi.
"mates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Mathis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mates" for "Mathis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mates" vs "Mathis" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "mates" vs "Mathis" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "mates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mathis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,651 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mates" and "Mathis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mathers vs Mathis". 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 #262,651 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.