Deutsch homophones
Mahl/Mal/mall
"Mahl" is a noun; "Mal" is an abbrev - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #5 of 483 German groups.
Data vintage
Grammar picks the spelling
Same sound, different grammar: "Mahl" arrives as a noun, while "Mal" is an abbrev. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "ma" then splits - "Mahl" (4 letters) vs "Mal" (3).
- Shared stem "ma" then splits - "Mahl" (4 letters) vs "mall" (4).
- Shared stem "mal" then splits - "Mal" (3 letters) vs "mall" (4).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across Mahl, Mal, mall: alm. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
Mahl
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory ahlm · private h
Mal
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory alm · no private letters vs siblings
mall
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory alm · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "Mahl" when you mean: Vorgang, bei dem Essen zu sich genommen wird, gespeist wird
- Write "Mal" when you mean: Buch Maleachi
- Write "mall" when you mean: 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs mallen
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.