MahlvsmariWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Mahl” and “mari” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,039
“Mahl” frequency rank
#29,234
“mari” frequency rank
53273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mahl mari
Definition Vorgang, bei dem Essen zu sich genommen wird, gespeist wird Ehemann, Gatte, Gemahl, Gespons

Where the eye mixes Mahl and mari

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Mahl (CVCC) and mari (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Mahl
4 ch
mari

Visual trap between Mahl and mari

A purely visual mix-up. Mahl ([maːl]) and mari ([ma.ʁi]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53273, 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]. mari is at rank #29,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ma.ʁi].

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 53273, this pair ranks #1,064,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mahl vs mari

Shared letters: am. Private to "Mahl": hl. Private to "mari": ir.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mahlamhl · mahhl · mahll · malh · mhal · mmahl
  • mariamri · mair · marri · mmari · mrai

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mahl" and "mari" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maːl] versus [ma.ʁi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Mahl" vs "mari" - which ranks higher?
"Mahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,039 in our German list, against #29,234 for "mari". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Mahl" and "mari" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mari" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,064,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mahl" and "mari" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mari vs mora". 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 #1,064,459 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