machtenvsMärktenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: machten is a verb, Märkten is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“machten” is a verb and “Märkten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,507
“machten” frequency rank
#10,707
“Märkten” frequency rank
13214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature machten Märkten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs machen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Markt

Where the eye mixes machten and Märkten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. machten and Märkten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
machten
7 ch
Märkten

Look-alike desk: machten vs Märkten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: machten is [ˈmaxtn̩] while Märkten is [ˈmɛʁktn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

machten is recorded at frequency rank #2,507, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaxtn̩]. Märkten is at rank #10,707, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɛʁktn̩].

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 13214, this pair ranks #1,959,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of machten vs Märkten

Shared letters: emnt. Private to "machten": ach. Private to "Märkten": krä.

"machten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Märkten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • machten ← amchten · macchten · machetn · machhten · machtenn · machtne · machtten · macthen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "machten" and "Märkten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "machten" is a verb and "Märkten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "machten" vs "Märkten" - which ranks higher?
"machten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,507 in our German list, against #10,707 for "Märkten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "machten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Märkten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "machten" and "Märkten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Märkten vs maroden". 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 #1,959,378 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