Which to use
“main” and “mason” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #385
- “main” frequency rank
- #14,730
- “mason” frequency rank
- 15115
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | main | mason |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie du corps humain située au bout du bras, qui s’étend du poignet jusqu’au bout des doigts, qui sert à la préhension et au toucher. | Maçon. |
Where the eye mixes main and mason
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: main vs mason
A purely visual mix-up. main (\mɛ̃\) and mason (\ˈmeɪ.sən\) 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 15115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
main is recorded at frequency rank #385, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃\. mason is at rank #14,730, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈmeɪ.sən\.
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 15115, this pair ranks #393,791 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of main vs mason
Shared letters: amn. Private to "main": i. Private to "mason": os.
"main" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mason" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "main" and "mason" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "main" or "mason"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "main" and "mason" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "main" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mason" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #393,791 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "main" and "mason" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manor vs mason". 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 #393,791 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.