Which to use
“MAD” is an abbrev and “mir” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,532
- “MAD” frequency rank
- #62
- “mir” frequency rank
- 12594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | MAD | mir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | militärischer Abschirmdienst | Dativ der ersten Person Singular |
Where the eye mixes MAD and mir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses MAD with mir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: MAD is [ɛmʔaːˈdeː] while mir is [miːɐ̯]. 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 (abbrev vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
MAD is recorded at frequency rank #12,532, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ɛmʔaːˈdeː]. mir is at rank #62, tagged as apron, pronounced [miːɐ̯].
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 12594, this pair ranks #1,963,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of MAD vs mir
Shared letters: m. Private to "MAD": ad. Private to "mir": ir.
"MAD" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mir" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "MAD" for "mir" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "MAD" or "mir" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "MAD" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,963,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "MAD" and "mir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "MAD vs Mals". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,963,253 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.