Which to use
“mähen” is a verb and “Mäzen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,426
- “mähen” frequency rank
- #42,696
- “Mäzen” frequency rank
- 70122
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mähen | Mäzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit der Sense, Sichel, mit einer Mähmaschine Pflanzen bis zum Ansatz dicht über dem Erdboden wegschneiden | vermögende Privatperson, die Kunst, Künstler oder künstlerische Tätigkeiten mit Geld unterstützt, ohne einen direkten Gegenwert zu erwarten; vergleichbar mit einem Sponsor |
Where the eye mixes mähen and Mäzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mähen and Mäzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses mähen with Mäzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mähen is [ˈmɛːən] while Mäzen is [mɛˈt͡seːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “mähen” becomes z in “Mäzen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70122, 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]. Mäzen is at rank #42,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛˈt͡seːn].
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 70122, this pair ranks #455,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mähen vs Mäzen
Shared letters: emnä. Private to "mähen": h. Private to "Mäzen": z.
"mähen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Mäzen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mähen" for "Mäzen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mähen" vs "Mäzen" - 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 "Mäzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #455,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mähen" and "Mäzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mailen vs Mäzen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #455,844 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.