Which to use
“mare” and “merle” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,825
- “mare” frequency rank
- #28,761
- “merle” frequency rank
- 53586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mare | merle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Stute | Amsel |
Where the eye mixes mare and merle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mare vs merle
A purely visual mix-up. mare ([mɛə]) and merle ([mɛʁl]) 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 53586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mare is recorded at frequency rank #24,825, classified as anoun, pronounced [mɛə]. merle is at rank #28,761, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛʁl].
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 53586, this pair ranks #1,052,214 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mare vs merle
Shared letters: emr. Private to "mare": a. Private to "merle": l.
"mare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "merle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mare" and "merle" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "mare" or "merle" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "mare" and "merle" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,052,214 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mare" and "merle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merle vs Mette". 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 #1,052,214 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.