Which to use
“mains” and “mas” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #753
- “mains” frequency rank
- #9,694
- “mas” frequency rank
- 10447
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mains | mas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de main. | Ferme dans le midi de la France. |
Where the eye mixes mains and mas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mains with mas
A purely visual mix-up. mains (\mɛ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mains is recorded at frequency rank #753, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃\. 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 10447, this pair ranks #412,965 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mains vs mas
Shared letters: ams. Private to "mains": in. Private to "mas": -.
"mains" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mains ← amins · mainns · mainss · maisn · manis · mians · mmains
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mains" and "mas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mains" or "mas"?
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 "mains" 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 #412,965 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mains" 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 #412,965 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.