MachsvsMahlConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,036
“Machs” frequency rank
#24,039
“Mahl” frequency rank
48075
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Machs Mahl
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Mach Vorgang, bei dem Essen zu sich genommen wird, gespeist wird

Where the eye mixes Machs and Mahl

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Machs runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against Mahl's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Machs
4 ch
Mahl

Visual trap between Machs and Mahl

A purely visual mix-up. Machs ([maxs]) and Mahl ([maːl]) 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 48075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Machs is recorded at frequency rank #24,036, classified as anoun, pronounced [maxs]. Mahl is at rank #24,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maːl].

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 48075, this pair ranks #1,261,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Machs vs Mahl

Shared letters: ahm. Private to "Machs": cs. Private to "Mahl": l.

"Machs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Mahl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Machs ← amchs · macchs · machhs · machss · macsh · mahcs · mcahs · mmachs
  • Mahl ← amhl · mahhl · mahll · malh · mhal · mmahl

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Machs" and "Mahl" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([maxs] versus [maːl]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Machs" or "Mahl" show up more?
"Machs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,036 in our German list, against #24,039 for "Mahl". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Machs" and "Mahl" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Machs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mahl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,261,692 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Machs" and "Mahl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mahl vs Mals". 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 #1,261,692 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