Which to use
“mail” and “mas” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,936
- “mail” frequency rank
- #9,694
- “mas” frequency rank
- 12630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mas | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petite masse cylindrique de bois, à long manche, dont on se servait pour jouer en poussant, en chassant avec force une boule de buis. | Ferme dans le midi de la France. |
Where the eye mixes mail and mas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mail and mas
A purely visual mix-up. mail (\maj\) and mas (\mas\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mail is recorded at frequency rank #2,936, classified as anoun, pronounced \maj\. 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 12630, this pair ranks #404,446 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mail vs mas
Shared letters: am. Private to "mail": il. Private to "mas": s.
"mail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mail ← amil · maill · mial · mmail
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mail" and "mas" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "mail" or "mas" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mail" 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 #404,446 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mail" and "mas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mas vs MWh". 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 #404,446 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.