magischevsmärkischeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,520
“magische” frequency rank
#35,344
“märkische” frequency rank
45864
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature magische märkische
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs magisch Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs märkisch

Where the eye mixes magische and märkische

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. magische runs 8 letters (CVCVCCCV) against märkische's 9 (CVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
magische
9 ch
märkische

Look-alike desk: magische vs märkische

A purely visual mix-up. magische ([ˈmaːɡɪʃə]) and märkische ([ˈmɛʁkɪʃə]) 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 45864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

magische is recorded at frequency rank #10,520, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaːɡɪʃə]. märkische is at rank #35,344, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmɛʁkɪʃə].

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 45864, this pair ranks #1,338,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of magische vs märkische

Shared letters: cehims. Private to "magische": ag. Private to "märkische": krä.

"magische" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "märkische" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • magischeamgische · maggische · magicshe · magiscche · magisceh · magischhe · magishce · magissche

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "magische" and "märkische" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaːɡɪʃə] versus [ˈmɛʁkɪʃə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "magische" vs "märkische" - which ranks higher?
"magische" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,520 in our German list, against #35,344 for "märkische". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "magische" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "märkische" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,338,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "magische" and "märkische" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "märkische vs Märsche". 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 #1,338,577 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