machten vs marten, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,507
“machten” frequency rank: #43,341
“marten” frequency rank: 45848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	machten	marten
Definition	1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs machen	der Marder

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set machten and marten apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

machten

6 ch

marten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: machten is averb and martenanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45848, 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]. marten is at rank #43,341, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 45848, this pair ranks #1,339,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of machten vs marten

Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "machten": ch. Private to "marten": r.

"machten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "marten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

machten ← amchten · macchten · machetn · machhten · machtenn · machtne · machtten · macthen
marten ← amrten · maretn · marrten · martenn · martne · martten · matren · mmarten

Frequency comparison

machten#2,507

marten#43,341

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "machten" and "marten" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "machten" is a verb and "marten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "machten" or "marten"?

"machten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,507 in our German list, against #43,341 for "marten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering machten vs marten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “machten”; for a noun, it's “marten”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “machten” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable