makes

/meɪks/

//meɪks// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"makes" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“makes” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #330. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#330
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of make

Corpus desk

Index EN-makes · makes · English

makes · rank #330 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #330
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH law

Nearest frequency peer: law (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “makes”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “makes” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

makes vs mes
60% similar
makes vs male
60% similar
makes vs mass
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for makes
PropertyValue
Headwordmakes
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/meɪks/
Letters5
Frequency rank#330
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “makes”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).makeslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “law” (#329), “together” (#331), “following” (#328). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “makes” is #330. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around makes (IPA /meɪks/), averb. Corpus frequency is #330 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "third-person singular simple present indicative of make".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for makes, with forms such as "amkes", "maeks", and "makess". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mes", "male", "mass", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is makes, spelled M-A-K-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    third-person singular simple present indicative of make

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how makes appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Green traffic lights look white to me, which makes them hard to distinguish from streetlights from far away.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amkes
  • maeks
  • makess
  • makkes
  • makse
  • mkaes
  • mmakes

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of makes - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

amkes2maeks2makess1makkes1makse2mkaes2mmakes1
Edit distance from "makes"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "makes"?
"makes" is spelled M-A-K-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /meɪks/.
What does "makes" mean?
As a verb, "makes" means: third-person singular simple present indicative of make
What words are commonly confused with "makes"?
"makes" is commonly confused with "mes", "male", "mass". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "makes"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "makes" is /meɪks/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "makes" come from?
"makes" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "makes", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

whole#333black#326using#324maybe#338

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

united7 variantsgames7 variantsleast7 variantsmeans7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list