machtevsmöchtetWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#780
“machte” frequency rank
#19,317
“möchtet” frequency rank
20097
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machte möchtet
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs machen 2. Person Plural Konjunktiv Präteritum des Verbs mögen

Where the eye mixes machte and möchtet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. machte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against möchtet's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
machte
7 ch
möchtet

Look-alike desk: machte vs möchtet

A purely visual mix-up. machte ([ˈmaxtə]) and möchtet ([ˈmœçtət]) 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 20097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machte is recorded at frequency rank #780, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaxtə]. möchtet is at rank #19,317, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmœçtət].

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 20097, this pair ranks #1,901,294 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of machte vs möchtet

Shared letters: cehmt. Private to "machte": a. Private to "möchtet": ö.

"machte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "möchtet" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machte ← amchte · macchte · machet · machhte · machtte · macthe · mahcte · mcahte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "machte" for "möchtet" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaxtə] versus [ˈmœçtət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "machte" or "möchtet"?
"machte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #780 in our German list, against #19,317 for "möchtet". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "machte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "möchtet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,901,294 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machte" and "möchtet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machte vs Mähne". 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 #1,901,294 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