Which to use
“mach” and “mam” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #687
- “mach” frequency rank
- #35,901
- “mam” frequency rank
- 36588
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mach | mam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ des Verbs machen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs měś |
Where the eye mixes mach and mam
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mach with mam
A purely visual mix-up. mach ([max]) and mam ([mam]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mach is recorded at frequency rank #687, classified as averb, pronounced [max]. mam is at rank #35,901, tagged as averb, pronounced [mam].
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 36588, this pair ranks #1,611,723 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mach vs mam
Shared letters: am. Private to "mach": ch. Private to "mam": -.
"mach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "mam" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mach ← amch · macch · machh · mahc · mcah · mmach
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mach" and "mam" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mach" vs "mam" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mach" and "mam" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,611,723 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mach" and "mam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs mam". 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 #1,611,723 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.