malavsmasWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: mala is a adjective, mas is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mala” is an adjective and “mas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,440
“mala” frequency rank
#17,981
“mas” frequency rank
63421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mala mas
Definition verkehrt, umgekehrt, gegenteilig, entgegengesetzt der Bauernhof, das Bauernhaus

Letter map: mala vs mas

Shared letters muted; letters that set mala and mas apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
mala
3 ch
mas

Grammar separator: mala vs mas

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mala is anadjective and masanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mala is recorded at frequency rank #45,440, classified as anadj. mas is at rank #17,981, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mas].

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 63421, this pair ranks #677,423 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mala vs mas

Shared letters: am. Private to "mala": l. Private to "mas": s.

"mala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malamaal · malla · mlaa · mmala

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mala" and "mas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mala" is an adjective and "mas" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mala" or "mas"?
"mas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,981 in our German list, against #45,440 for "mala". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "mala" and "mas". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #677,423 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mala" and "mas" 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 #677,423 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