MachtvsMatheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#134
“Macht” frequency rank
#5,624
“Mathe” frequency rank
5758
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Macht Mathe
Definition Fähigkeit, auf andere Einfluss ausüben zu können, auch gegen deren Willen (das Schulfach) Mathematik

Where the eye mixes Macht and Mathe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Macht
5 ch
Mathe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Macht ([maxt]) and Mathe ([ˈmatə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Macht is recorded at frequency rank #134, classified as anoun, pronounced [maxt]. Mathe is at rank #5,624, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmatə].

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 5758, this pair ranks #1,993,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Macht vs Mathe

Shared letters: ahmt. Private to "Macht": c. Private to "Mathe": e.

"Macht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Mathe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Machtamcht · maccht · machht · machtt · macth · mahct · mcaht · mmacht
  • Matheamthe · mahte · mateh · mathhe · matthe · mmathe · mtahe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Macht" and "Mathe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maxt] versus [ˈmatə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Macht" or "Mathe"?
"Macht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #134 in our German list, against #5,624 for "Mathe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list