Which to use
“Maes” is a name and “matez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,386
- “Maes” frequency rank
- #43,005
- “matez” frequency rank
- 82391
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Maes | matez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom de famille néerlandais. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mater. |
Where the eye mixes Maes and matez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Maes runs 4 letters (CVVC) against matez's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Maes with matez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Maes is \maːs\ while matez is \ma.te\. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82391, 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\. matez is at rank #43,005, tagged as averb, pronounced \ma.te\.
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 82391, this pair ranks #16,830 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Maes vs matez
Shared letters: aem. Private to "Maes": s. Private to "matez": tz.
"Maes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "matez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Maes" for "matez" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Maes" vs "matez" - 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 "Maes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "matez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #16,830 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Maes" and "matez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Maël vs matez". 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 #16,830 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.