machinevsobservationTell them apart

Which to use

“machine” and “observation” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,337
“machine” frequency rank
#49,936
“observation” frequency rank
62273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machine observation
Definition ein Apparat mit vielen beweglichen Teilen; gestaltet um eine Aufgabe zu erfüllen. Beobachtung, Observation, Überwachung

Letter map: machine vs observation

Shared letters muted; letters that set machine and observation apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. machine runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against observation's 11 (VCCVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
machine
11 ch
observation

Spelling & dictionary notes on machine vs observation

machine and observation are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 4 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machine is recorded at frequency rank #12,337, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. observation is at rank #49,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 62273, this pair ranks #719,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machine vs observation

Shared letters: aein. Private to "machine": chm. Private to "observation": borstv.

"machine" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "observation" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machine ← amchine · macchine · machhine · machien · machinne · machnie · macihne · mahcine
  • observation ← boservation · obbservation · obesrvation · obseravtion · obserrvation · observaiton · observatino · observationn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "machine" and "observation" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 4 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "machine" vs "observation" - which ranks higher?
"machine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,337 in our German list, against #49,936 for "observation". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "machine" vs "observation" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "machine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "observation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #719,000 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machine" and "observation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "observation vs puzzles". 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 #719,000 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