Which to use
“Maes” is a name and “masse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,386
- “Maes” frequency rank
- #1,528
- “masse” frequency rank
- 40914
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Maes | masse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom de famille néerlandais. | Amas de plusieurs parties qui font corps ensemble. |
Same sound, different letters: Maes vs masse
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. Maes runs 4 letters (CVVC) against masse's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - Maes and masse
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: Maes and masse carry the same recorded pronunciation, \maːs\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is aname, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Maes is recorded at frequency rank #39,386, classified as aname, pronounced \maːs\. masse is at rank #1,528, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mas\.
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 40914, this pair ranks #236,960 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Maes vs masse
Shared letters: aems. Private to "Maes": -. Private to "masse": -.
"Maes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "masse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Maes" and "masse" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Maes" or "masse"?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "Maes" / "masse". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "Maes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "masse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,960 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Maes" and "masse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Maes vs maid". 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 #236,960 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.