Which to use
“mailen” is a verb and “Malern” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,065
- “mailen” frequency rank
- #40,689
- “Malern” frequency rank
- 89754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mailen | Malern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine E-Mail versenden, schicken | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Maler |
Where the eye mixes mailen and Malern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mailen (CVVCVC) and Malern (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses mailen with Malern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mailen is [ˈmɛɪ̯lən] while Malern is [ˈmaːlɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89754, 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]. Malern is at rank #40,689, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaːlɐn].
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 89754, this pair ranks #53,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mailen vs Malern
Shared letters: aelmn. Private to "mailen": i. Private to "Malern": r.
"mailen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "Malern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mailen" for "Malern" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mailen" or "Malern"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mailen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Malern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,957 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mailen" and "Malern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Madsen vs mailen". 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 #53,957 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.