makesvsMäzenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,890
“makes” frequency rank
#42,696
“Mäzen” frequency rank
81586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature makes Mäzen
Definition Plural des Substantivs make vermögende Privatperson, die Kunst, Künstler oder künstlerische Tätigkeiten mit Geld unterstützt, ohne einen direkten Gegenwert zu erwarten; vergleichbar mit einem Sponsor

Where the eye mixes makes and Mäzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. makes and Mäzen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
makes
5 ch
Mäzen

Look-alike desk: makes vs Mäzen

A purely visual mix-up. makes ([meɪks]) and Mäzen ([mɛˈt͡seːn]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

makes is recorded at frequency rank #38,890, classified as anoun, pronounced [meɪks]. Mäzen is at rank #42,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛˈt͡seːn].

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 81586, this pair ranks #172,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of makes vs Mäzen

Shared letters: em. Private to "makes": aks. Private to "Mäzen": nzä.

"makes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Mäzen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • makes ← amkes · maeks · makess · makkes · mkaes · mmakes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "makes" for "Mäzen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([meɪks] versus [mɛˈt͡seːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "makes" vs "Mäzen" - which ranks higher?
"makes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,890 in our German list, against #42,696 for "Mäzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "makes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mäzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #172,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "makes" and "Mäzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mailen vs Mäzen". 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 #172,910 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