Which to use
“malen” and “mall” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,735
- “malen” frequency rank
- #19,303
- “mall” frequency rank
- 25038
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malen | mall |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit Farbe bestreichen, anstreichen; mit Farbe bunt verzieren | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs mallen |
Where the eye mixes malen and mall
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: malen vs mall
A purely visual mix-up. malen ([ˈmaːlən]) and mall ([mal]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malen is recorded at frequency rank #5,735, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaːlən]. mall is at rank #19,303, tagged as averb, pronounced [mal].
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 25038, this pair ranks #1,839,049 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of malen vs mall
Shared letters: alm. Private to "malen": en. Private to "mall": -.
"malen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mall" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "malen" for "mall" ever safe?
Frequency check: "malen" vs "mall" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "malen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mall" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,839,049 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "malen" and "mall" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mall vs Mals". 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 #1,839,049 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.