macvsmalaConfusable pair

Quick tell: mac is a noun, mala is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mac” is a noun and “mala” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,810
“mac” frequency rank
#45,440
“mala” frequency rank
50250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mac mala
Definition weites Kleidungsstück mit Ärmeln, das mindestens bis zu den Knien reicht und wasserdicht ist verkehrt, umgekehrt, gegenteilig, entgegengesetzt

Letter map: mac vs mala

Shared letters muted; letters that set mac and mala apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
mac
4 ch
mala

Role in the sentence - mac and mala

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mac is anoun and malaanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mac is recorded at frequency rank #4,810, classified as anoun, pronounced [mæk]. mala is at rank #45,440, tagged as anadj.

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 50250, this pair ranks #1,180,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mac vs mala

Shared letters: am. Private to "mac": c. Private to "mala": l.

"mac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "mala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malamaal · malla · mlaa · mmala

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mac" and "mala" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mac" is a noun and "mala" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "mac" or "mala" show up more?
"mac" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,810 in our German list, against #45,440 for "mala". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "mac" vs "mala" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mala" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,180,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mac" and "mala" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mala vs mora". 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 #1,180,851 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list