Which to use
“mähen” and “mailen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,426
- “mähen” frequency rank
- #49,065
- “mailen” frequency rank
- 76491
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mähen | mailen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit der Sense, Sichel, mit einer Mähmaschine Pflanzen bis zum Ansatz dicht über dem Erdboden wegschneiden | eine E-Mail versenden, schicken |
Where the eye mixes mähen and mailen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mähen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against mailen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mähen with mailen
A purely visual mix-up. mähen ([ˈmɛːən]) and mailen ([ˈmɛɪ̯lən]) 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 76491, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mähen is recorded at frequency rank #27,426, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛːən]. 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 76491, this pair ranks #282,668 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mähen vs mailen
Shared letters: emn. Private to "mähen": hä. Private to "mailen": ail.
"mähen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mailen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mailen ← amilen · maieln · mailenn · maillen · mailne · malien · mialen · mmailen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mähen" and "mailen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mähen" vs "mailen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mähen" 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 #282,668 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mähen" 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 #282,668 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.