Which to use
“mahé” is a postp and “mas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,035
- “mahé” frequency rank
- #9,694
- “mas” frequency rank
- 53729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mahé | mas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dans, dedans. | Ferme dans le midi de la France. |
Where the eye mixes mahé and mas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mahé runs 4 letters (CVCV) against mas's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mahé and mas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mahé is \ma.ˈhe\ while mas is \mas\. 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 (postp vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mahé is recorded at frequency rank #44,035, classified as apostp, pronounced \ma.ˈhe\. mas is at rank #9,694, 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 53729, this pair ranks #138,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mahé vs mas
Shared letters: am. Private to "mahé": hé. Private to "mas": s.
"mahé" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mahé" and "mas" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mahé" vs "mas" - 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 "mahé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #138,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mahé" and "mas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mahé vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #138,770 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.