Which to use
“makes” and “marks” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,884
- “makes” frequency rank
- #19,341
- “marks” frequency rank
- 61225
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | makes | marks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de make. | Pluriel de mark. |
Where the eye mixes makes and marks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. makes (CVCVC) and marks (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: makes vs marks
A purely visual mix-up. makes (\ˈmeɪks\) and marks (\maʁk\) 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 61225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
makes is recorded at frequency rank #41,884, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈmeɪks\. marks is at rank #19,341, tagged as anoun, pronounced \maʁk\.
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 61225, this pair ranks #93,407 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of makes vs marks
Shared letters: akms. Private to "makes": e. Private to "marks": r.
"makes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "marks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "makes" and "marks" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "makes" or "marks"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "makes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "marks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #93,407 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "makes" and "marks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Maël vs makes". 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 #93,407 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.