Which to use
“Mahl” is a noun and “Mal” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,039
- “Mahl” frequency rank
- #65
- “Mal” frequency rank
- 24104
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mahl | Mal |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vorgang, bei dem Essen zu sich genommen wird, gespeist wird | Buch Maleachi |
Same sound, different letters: Mahl vs Mal
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - Mahl and Mal
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: Mahl and Mal carry the same recorded pronunciation, [maːl]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anabbrev, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mahl is recorded at frequency rank #24,039, classified as anoun, pronounced [maːl]. Mal is at rank #65, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [maːl].
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 24104, this pair ranks #1,852,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Mahl vs Mal
Shared letters: alm. Private to "Mahl": h. Private to "Mal": -.
"Mahl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Mal" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Mahl ← amhl · mahhl · mahll · malh · mhal · mmahl
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Mahl" and "Mal" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Mahl" vs "Mal" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "Mahl" / "Mal". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Mal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,852,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mahl" and "Mal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mahl vs Mals". 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 #1,852,312 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.