Which to use
“machte” and “möchte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #780
- “machte” frequency rank
- #301
- “möchte” frequency rank
- 1081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | machte | möchte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs machen | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv Präteritum des Verbs mögen |
Where the eye mixes machte and möchte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. machte and möchte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: machte vs möchte
A purely visual mix-up. machte ([ˈmaxtə]) and möchte ([ˈmœçtə]) 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 a single letter - a in “machte” becomes ö in “möchte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
machte is recorded at frequency rank #780, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaxtə]. möchte is at rank #301, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmœçtə].
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 1081, this pair ranks #2,004,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of machte vs möchte
Shared letters: cehmt. Private to "machte": a. Private to "möchte": ö.
"machte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "möchte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- machte ← amchte · macchte · machet · machhte · machtte · macthe · mahcte · mcahte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "machte" for "möchte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "machte" or "möchte" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "machte" and "möchte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "machte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "möchte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,004,940 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "machte" and "möchte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "möchte vs Möhre". 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 #2,004,940 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.