Which to use
“maïs” is a noun and “May” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,849
- “maïs” frequency rank
- #7,083
- “May” frequency rank
- 13932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maïs | May |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Nom de famille. |
Where the eye mixes maïs and May
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between maïs and May
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maïs is \ma.is\ while May is \me\. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13932, 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\. May is at rank #7,083, tagged as aname, pronounced \me\.
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 13932, this pair ranks #398,909 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maïs vs May
Shared letters: am. Private to "maïs": sï. Private to "May": y.
"maïs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "May" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "maïs" and "May" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "maïs" vs "May" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "maïs" and "May" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maïs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "May" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,909 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maïs" and "May" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "May vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #398,909 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.