MahlvsmaysConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,039
“Mahl” frequency rank
#44,064
“mays” frequency rank
68103
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mahl mays
Definition Vorgang, bei dem Essen zu sich genommen wird, gespeist wird das Artepitheton für den Mais (Zea mays)

Letter map: Mahl vs mays

Shared letters muted; letters that set Mahl and mays apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. Mahl (CVCC) and mays (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Mahl
4 ch
mays

Spelling & dictionary notes on Mahl vs mays

Mahl and mays are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68103, 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]. mays is at rank #44,064, tagged as anoun, 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 68103, this pair ranks #518,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mahl vs mays

Shared letters: am. Private to "Mahl": hl. Private to "mays": sy.

"Mahl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mahl ← amhl · mahhl · mahll · malh · mhal · mmahl
  • mays ← amys · masy · mayss · mayys · mmays · myas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Mahl" and "mays" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "Mahl" or "mays"?
"Mahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,039 in our German list, against #44,064 for "mays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Mahl" and "mays".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #518,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mahl" and "mays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mays 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 #518,617 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