MahlvsmaluConfusable pair

Quick tell: Mahl is a noun, malu is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Mahl” is a noun and “malu” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,039
“Mahl” frequency rank
#46,130
“malu” frequency rank
70169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mahl malu
Definition Vorgang, bei dem Essen zu sich genommen wird, gespeist wird erst, erst einmal

Letter map: Mahl vs malu

Shared letters muted; letters that set Mahl and malu apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. Mahl (CVCC) and malu (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Mahl
4 ch
malu

Role in the sentence - Mahl and malu

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Mahl is anoun and maluanadverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70169, 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]. malu is at rank #46,130, tagged as anadv, pronounced […].

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 70169, this pair ranks #454,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Mahl vs malu

Shared letters: alm. Private to "Mahl": h. Private to "malu": u.

"Mahl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "malu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mahl ← amhl · mahhl · mahll · malh · mhal · mmahl
  • malu ← amlu · mallu · mlau · mmalu

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Mahl" and "malu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Mahl" is a noun and "malu" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Mahl" vs "malu" - which ranks higher?
"Mahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,039 in our German list, against #46,130 for "malu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "Mahl" vs "malu" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "malu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #454,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mahl" and "malu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malu vs puzzles". 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 #454,427 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