Which to use
“machins” and “mains” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,338
- “machins” frequency rank
- #753
- “mains” frequency rank
- 34091
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | machins | mains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de machin. | Pluriel de main. |
Where the eye mixes machins and mains
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. machins runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against mains's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between machins and mains
A purely visual mix-up. machins (\ma.ʃɛ̃\) and mains (\mɛ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
machins is recorded at frequency rank #33,338, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.ʃɛ̃\. mains is at rank #753, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃\.
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 34091, this pair ranks #286,216 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of machins vs mains
Shared letters: aimns. Private to "machins": ch. Private to "mains": -.
"machins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "mains" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "machins" and "mains" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "machins" or "mains"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "machins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,216 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "machins" and "mains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machina vs machins". 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 #286,216 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.