Which to use
“mähen” is a verb and “Maschen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,426
- “mähen” frequency rank
- #23,614
- “Maschen” frequency rank
- 51040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mähen | Maschen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit der Sense, Sichel, mit einer Mähmaschine Pflanzen bis zum Ansatz dicht über dem Erdboden wegschneiden | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Masche |
Where the eye mixes mähen and Maschen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mähen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Maschen's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mähen vs Maschen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mähen is [ˈmɛːən] while Maschen is [ˈmaʃn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51040, 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]. Maschen is at rank #23,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʃn̩].
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 51040, this pair ranks #1,150,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mähen vs Maschen
Shared letters: ehmn. Private to "mähen": ä. Private to "Maschen": acs.
"mähen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Maschen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Maschen ← amschen · macshen · mascchen · mascehn · maschenn · maschhen · maschne · mashcen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mähen" and "Maschen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mähen" or "Maschen"?
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 "mähen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Maschen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,150,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mähen" and "Maschen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mähen 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 #1,150,794 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.