Which to use
“Macken” is a noun and “mailen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,672
- “Macken” frequency rank
- #49,065
- “mailen” frequency rank
- 80737
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Macken | mailen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Macke | eine E-Mail versenden, schicken |
Where the eye mixes Macken and mailen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Macken (CVCCVC) and mailen (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses Macken with mailen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Macken is [ˈmakn̩] while mailen is [ˈmɛɪ̯lən]. 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 80737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Macken is recorded at frequency rank #31,672, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmakn̩]. mailen is at rank #49,065, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛɪ̯lən].
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 80737, this pair ranks #189,518 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Macken vs mailen
Shared letters: aemn. Private to "Macken": ck. Private to "mailen": il.
"Macken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mailen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Macken" for "mailen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Macken" or "mailen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Macken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mailen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #189,518 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Macken" and "mailen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Madsen vs mailen". 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 #189,518 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.