Which to use
“machines” is a noun and “tools” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,439
- “machines” frequency rank
- #12,399
- “tools” frequency rank
- 57838
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | machines | tools |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural von des Substantivs machine | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs tool |
Letter map: machines vs tools
Shared letters muted; letters that set machines and tools apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. machines runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against tools's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Part-of-speech tell for machines / tools
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: machines is anoun and toolsaverb. On the page they differ by 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
machines is recorded at frequency rank #45,439, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. tools is at rank #12,399, tagged as averb, 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 57838, this pair ranks #885,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of machines vs tools
Shared letters: s. Private to "machines": acehimn. Private to "tools": lot.
"machines" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "tools" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "machines" for "tools" ever safe?
Frequency check: "machines" vs "tools" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "machines" vs "tools" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "machines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tools" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #885,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "machines" and "tools" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machines 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 #885,807 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.