mailenvsmaleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,065
“mailen” frequency rank
#3,905
“male” frequency rank
52970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mailen male
Definition eine E-Mail versenden, schicken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs malen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mailen and male apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mailen
4 ch
male

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mailen ([ˈmɛɪ̯lən]) and male ([ˈmaːlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mailen is recorded at frequency rank #49,065, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛɪ̯lən]. male is at rank #3,905, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmaːlə].

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 52970, this pair ranks #1,076,107 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mailen vs male

Shared letters: aelm. Private to "mailen": in. Private to "male": -.

"mailen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "male" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mailenamilen · maieln · mailenn · maillen · mailne · malien · mialen · mmailen
  • maleamle · mael · mlae · mmale

Frequency comparison

mailen#49,065
male#3,905

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mailen" and "male" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɛɪ̯lən] versus [ˈmaːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mailen" or "male"?
"male" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,905 in our German list, against #49,065 for "mailen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mailen vs male

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mailen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list