Which to use
“Mai” is a noun and “mala” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #586
- “Mai” frequency rank
- #45,440
- “mala” frequency rank
- 46026
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mai | mala |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der fünfte Monat im Jahr | verkehrt, umgekehrt, gegenteilig, entgegengesetzt |
Letter map: Mai vs mala
Shared letters muted; letters that set Mai and mala apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: Mai vs mala
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Mai is anoun and malaanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mai is recorded at frequency rank #586, classified as anoun, pronounced [maɪ̯]. mala is at rank #45,440, tagged as anadj.
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 46026, this pair ranks #1,333,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Mai vs mala
Shared letters: am. Private to "Mai": i. Private to "mala": l.
"Mai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mala ← maal · malla · mlaa · mmala
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Mai" for "mala" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Mai" vs "mala" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "Mai" and "mala". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mala" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,333,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mai" and "mala" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mala 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 #1,333,027 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.