mallevsMeileWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: malle is a verb, Meile is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“malle” is a verb and “Meile” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,674
“malle” frequency rank
#15,698
“Meile” frequency rank
47372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature malle Meile
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs mallen Längenmaß in der Größenordnung von 1 bis 11 Kilometer, früher in Deutschland und Österreich etwa 7,5 Kilometer entsprechend, noch heute offiziell im Vereinigten Königreich und in den Vereinigten Staaten (1,609 Kilometer) sowie inoffiziell noch in Norwegen und Schweden (10 Kilometer)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set malle and Meile apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
malle
5 ch
Meile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: malle is [ˈmalə] while Meile is [ˈmaɪ̯lə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 47372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

malle is recorded at frequency rank #31,674, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmalə]. Meile is at rank #15,698, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯lə].

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 47372, this pair ranks #1,286,567 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of malle vs Meile

Shared letters: elm. Private to "malle": a. Private to "Meile": i.

"malle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Meile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malleamlle · malel · mlale · mmalle
  • Meileemile · meiel · meille · melie · miele · mmeile

Frequency comparison

malle#31,674
Meile#15,698

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "malle" and "Meile" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "malle" is a verb and "Meile" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "malle" or "Meile"?
"Meile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,698 in our German list, against #31,674 for "malle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering malle vs Meile

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “malle”; for a noun, it's “Meile”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “malle” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list