machtevsmahnteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#780
“machte” frequency rank
#33,177
“mahnte” frequency rank
33957
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machte mahnte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs machen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs mahnen

Where the eye mixes machte and mahnte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. machte and mahnte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
machte
6 ch
mahnte

Look-alike desk: machte vs mahnte

A purely visual mix-up. machte ([ˈmaxtə]) and mahnte ([ˈmaːntə]) 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 33957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machte is recorded at frequency rank #780, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaxtə]. mahnte is at rank #33,177, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmaːntə].

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 33957, this pair ranks #1,674,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of machte vs mahnte

Shared letters: aehmt. Private to "machte": c. Private to "mahnte": n.

"machte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "mahnte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machte ← amchte · macchte · machet · machhte · machtte · macthe · mahcte · mcahte
  • mahnte ← amhnte · mahhnte · mahnet · mahnnte · mahntte · mahtne · manhte · mhante

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "machte" for "mahnte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaxtə] versus [ˈmaːntə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "machte" vs "mahnte" - which ranks higher?
"machte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #780 in our German list, against #33,177 for "mahnte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "machte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mahnte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,674,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machte" and "mahnte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "magnete vs mahnte". 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 #1,674,268 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