Which to use
“mari” and “may” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,234
- “mari” frequency rank
- #5,282
- “may” frequency rank
- 34516
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mari | may |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ehemann, Gatte, Gemahl, Gespons | fünfter Monat im Kalenderjahr; Mai |
Where the eye mixes mari and may
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mari vs may
A purely visual mix-up. mari ([ma.ʁi]) and may ([mɑj]) 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 34516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mari is recorded at frequency rank #29,234, classified as anoun, pronounced [ma.ʁi]. may is at rank #5,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɑj].
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 34516, this pair ranks #1,661,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mari vs may
Shared letters: am. Private to "mari": ir. Private to "may": y.
"mari" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "may" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mari ← amri · mair · marri · mmari · mrai
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mari" for "may" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mari" or "may"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mari" and "may" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mari" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "may" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,661,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mari" and "may" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mari vs mora". 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 #1,661,574 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.