Which to use
“maïs” and “mamy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,849
- “maïs” frequency rank
- #43,543
- “mamy” frequency rank
- 50392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maïs | mamy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vernaculaire de Zea mays subsp. mays, — et de ses cultivars —, plante herbacée de la famille des Poaceae (ou Poacées ou Graminées), originaire du Mexique et du Guatemala, à tige droite et aux feuilles lancéolées, et que l’on cultive comme plante fourragère ou pour ses graines. | Variante de mamie. |
Where the eye mixes maïs and mamy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. maïs (CVCC) and mamy (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: maïs vs mamy
A purely visual mix-up. maïs (\ma.is\) and mamy (\ma.mi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maïs is recorded at frequency rank #6,849, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.is\. mamy is at rank #43,543, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.mi\.
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 50392, this pair ranks #163,013 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maïs vs mamy
Shared letters: am. Private to "maïs": sï. Private to "mamy": y.
"maïs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "mamy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mamy ← ammy · mammy · mamyy · maym · mmamy · mmay
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maïs" and "mamy" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "maïs" or "mamy" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maïs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mamy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #163,013 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maïs" and "mamy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mamy vs memo". 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 #163,013 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.