MamivsmeiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,356
“Mami” frequency rank
#10,695
“mei” frequency rank
25051
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mami mei
Definition Koseform von Mama meine, die meinen/meinigen mit Bezug auf mehrere vorher erwähnte Objekte oder Personen

Where the eye mixes Mami and mei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Mami
3 ch
mei

Visual trap between Mami and mei

A purely visual mix-up. Mami ([ˈmami]) and mei ([ˈmeʔi]) 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 25051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mami is recorded at frequency rank #14,356, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmami]. mei is at rank #10,695, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmeʔi].

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 25051, this pair ranks #1,838,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Mami vs mei

Shared letters: im. Private to "Mami": a. Private to "mei": e.

"Mami" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mamiammi · maim · mammi · mmai · mmami

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Mami" and "mei" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmami] versus [ˈmeʔi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Mami" or "mei"?
"mei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,695 in our German list, against #14,356 for "Mami". 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 "Mami" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,838,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mami" and "mei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs Mami". 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 #1,838,869 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