MackevsmalleWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,248
“Macke” frequency rank
#31,674
“malle” frequency rank
65922
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Macke malle
Definition sonderbare Eigenart 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs mallen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Macke and malle apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Macke
5 ch
malle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Macke is [ˈmakə] while malle is [ˈmalə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65922, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Macke is recorded at frequency rank #34,248, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmakə]. malle is at rank #31,674, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmalə].

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 65922, this pair ranks #590,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Macke vs malle

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Macke": ck. Private to "malle": l.

"Macke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "malle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mackeamcke · maccke · macek · mackke · makce · mcake · mmacke
  • malleamlle · malel · mlale · mmalle

Frequency comparison

Macke#34,248
malle#31,674

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Macke" and "malle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Macke" is a noun and "malle" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Macke" or "malle"?
"malle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,674 in our German list, against #34,248 for "Macke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Macke vs malle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list