MackevsmarkoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,248
“Macke” frequency rank
#19,995
“marko” frequency rank
54243
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Macke marko
Definition sonderbare Eigenart Vokativ Singular des Substantivs marka

Where the eye mixes Macke and marko

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Macke
5 ch
marko

Why the eye confuses Macke with marko

A purely visual mix-up. Macke ([ˈmakə]) and marko ([ˈmarkɔ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54243, 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]. marko is at rank #19,995, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmarkɔ].

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 54243, this pair ranks #1,026,449 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Macke vs marko

Shared letters: akm. Private to "Macke": ce. Private to "marko": or.

"Macke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "marko" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mackeamcke · maccke · macek · mackke · makce · mcake · mmacke
  • markoamrko · markko · marok · marrko · mmarko · mrako

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Macke" for "marko" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmakə] versus [ˈmarkɔ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Macke" or "marko"?
"marko" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,995 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.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Macke" and "marko" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Macke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "marko" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,026,449 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Macke" and "marko" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Macke vs Matze". 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 #1,026,449 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