Which to use
“mais” is a conjunction and “makes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,283
- “mais” frequency rank
- #49,124
- “makes” frequency rank
- 81407
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mais | makes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pero. | Hace, Presente del modo indicativo para la tercera persona del singular del verbo make. |
Where the eye mixes mais and makes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mais runs 4 letters (CVVC) against makes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mais vs makes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mais is [mɛ] while makes is /meɪks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mais is recorded at frequency rank #32,283, classified as aconj, pronounced [mɛ]. makes is at rank #49,124, 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 81407, this pair ranks #10,453 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mais vs makes
Shared letters: ams. Private to "mais": i. Private to "makes": ek.
"mais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "makes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mais" and "makes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mais" vs "makes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mais" 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 #10,453 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mais" and "makes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "makes vs Marks". 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 #10,453 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.