MackevsMaskenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,248
“Macke” frequency rank
#11,287
“Masken” frequency rank
45535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Macke Masken
Definition sonderbare Eigenart Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Maske

Where the eye mixes Macke and Masken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Macke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Masken's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Macke
6 ch
Masken

Look-alike desk: Macke vs Masken

A purely visual mix-up. Macke ([ˈmakə]) and Masken ([ˈmaskn̩]) 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 45535, 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]. Masken is at rank #11,287, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaskn̩].

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 45535, this pair ranks #1,349,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Macke vs Masken

Shared letters: aekm. Private to "Macke": c. Private to "Masken": ns.

"Macke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Masken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mackeamcke · maccke · macek · mackke · makce · mcake · mmacke
  • Maskenamsken · maksen · masekn · maskenn · maskken · maskne · massken · mmasken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Macke" and "Masken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmakə] versus [ˈmaskn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Macke" or "Masken"?
"Masken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,287 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 "Masken" 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 "Masken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,349,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Macke" and "Masken" 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 #1,349,729 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