MalzvsmareWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,306
“Malz” frequency rank
#24,825
“mare” frequency rank
53131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Malz mare
Definition in Wasser gekeimtes und anschließend getrocknetes (gedarrtes) Getreide, meist Gerste; wird hauptsächlich zur Bierherstellung verwendet Stute

Where the eye mixes Malz and mare

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Malz (CVCC) and mare (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Malz
4 ch
mare

Why the eye confuses Malz with mare

A purely visual mix-up. Malz ([malt͡s]) and mare ([mɛə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Malz is recorded at frequency rank #28,306, classified as anoun, pronounced [malt͡s]. mare is at rank #24,825, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛə].

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 53131, this pair ranks #1,070,021 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Malz vs mare

Shared letters: am. Private to "Malz": lz. Private to "mare": er.

"Malz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Malzamlz · mallz · malzz · mazl · mlaz · mmalz
  • maremaer · marre · mmare · mrae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Malz" for "mare" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([malt͡s] versus [mɛə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Malz" or "mare"?
"mare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,825 in our German list, against #28,306 for "Malz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Malz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,070,021 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Malz" and "mare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Malz vs Matze". 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 #1,070,021 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