Which to use
“maçons” is an adjective and “microns” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,679
- “maçons” frequency rank
- #43,555
- “microns” frequency rank
- 59234
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maçons | microns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de maçon. | Pluriel de micron. |
Where the eye mixes maçons and microns
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between maçons and microns
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maçons is \ma.sɔ̃\ while microns is \mi.kʁɔ̃\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maçons is recorded at frequency rank #15,679, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.sɔ̃\. microns is at rank #43,555, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi.kʁɔ̃\.
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 59234, this pair ranks #104,299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maçons vs microns
Shared letters: mnos. Private to "maçons": aç. Private to "microns": cir.
"maçons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "microns" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- microns ← imcrons · mcirons · miccrons · micorns · micrnos · micronns · micronss · microsn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maçons" for "microns" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maçons" vs "microns" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maçons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "microns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maçons" and "microns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macros vs microns". 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 #104,299 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.