Messages vs. Massages

[TheStoryteller1]

Anyone ever made that mistake?

For some reason, took me quite a while to differentiate them...and I still mess up sometimes... :shy:

Have you done that? How did you learn which is which?

[Rosa]

I've never had a problem with those two words. They both have different pronunciation so that prevents the difficulty for me. I believe that if someone is having difficulty with these words they could think of message as the word with the word mess as part of it. That should make it easier in determining the difference.

[eppie]

Anyone ever made that mistake?

For some reason, took me quite a while to differentiate them...and I still mess up sometimes... :shy:

Have you done that? How did you learn which is which?

Hi Storyteller 

I've never made that mistake (as far as I know). Although English is not my native tongue, it has always been a part of our educational system from pre-school to college.  I may have misspelled one or both of the terms unintentionally but I can never be confused when it comes to the meaning of both words. 

[Miya]

I've never made that mistake, lol. Mainly because I very rarely use the word "massages".

I do see why people mix them up though.

[CyberGenius]

I've never made that mistake, and to be honest I don't see why someone should mix the two up. However, I've seen someone use 'massages' for 'messages' on another forum. Perhaps, it's probably the way they pronounce 'messages' that affected their spelling.

But, to me the two are two different words with two different pronunciations, and just like someone said, I rarely use massages.

[2times]

Yes i have always had a problem with these two words until the past few months i finally figured it out. i have the basics of the words down now though  :party:

[LauraM]

The spelling of the two words -- messages and massages --  is quite similar and I can see why there would be confusion.  It's also a situation in which a spell check will not help you. 

Obviously the meanings of the words are quite different, but so is the pronunciation.  It's probably one of those cases in the English language -- and there are quite a few -- where one just simply has to be aware of the two words and the possible confusion and make an effort to double check and make sure the right one is used. 

[Miya]

I don't think people mix these two up when they speak but when they write/type, then maybe it's easier to mix them up.

[sidney]

I never had that mistake when using those 2 words in a sentence. They both mean different things, and I'm quite fluent in English too, so I'm quite confident that I won't make that mistake ever, lol unless it's a typo.

[AureliaeLacrimae]

They're pronounced differently:

Message is pronounced /'mesɪdʒ/

Massage is pronounced /maˈsɑːɧ/

The second comes from French, so French pronunciation is kept. Although I'd always pronounce garage as/ˈɡærɪdʒ/, but it's also possible:  /ˈɡær.ɑːʒ/

Perhaps you could try pronouncing them? Message still has that distinguished 'e' sound whereas massage keeps the muffled 'a' in schwa. Also, there are words such as masseuse and masseur for people who do the massage, also from French. This may help you distinguish them.

Compounds with message... hmm.. I can't remember. The only word that comes in mind is gerund messaging. Is your phone in English? If you always see ''Messages'' when you try to send someone a text, you might remember it in time.

Perhaps you could connect massage with spa? Both have ''a'' and message with text, both have ''e''