MarkvsMautWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,703
“Mark” frequency rank
#8,753
“Maut” frequency rank
10456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mark Maut
Definition historische Gewichts- bzw. Masseneinheit, die ab dem 11. Jahrhundert das Pfund als Edelmetall- und Münzgewicht verdrängte. Die Mark ist traditionell ein halbes Pfund und wurde üblicherweise in 8 Unzen oder 16 Lot eingeteilt Zoll

Where the eye mixes Mark and Maut

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

4 ch
Mark
4 ch
Maut

Look-alike desk: Mark vs Maut

A purely visual mix-up. Mark ([maʁk]) and Maut ([maʊ̯t]) 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 10456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mark is recorded at frequency rank #1,703, classified as anoun, pronounced [maʁk]. Maut is at rank #8,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maʊ̯t].

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 10456, this pair ranks #1,975,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Mark vs Maut

Shared letters: am. Private to "Mark": kr. Private to "Maut": tu.

"Mark" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Maut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Markamrk · makr · markk · marrk · mmark · mrak
  • Mautamut · matu · mautt · mmaut · muat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Mark" and "Maut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maʁk] versus [maʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Mark" or "Maut" show up more?
"Mark" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,703 in our German list, against #8,753 for "Maut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Mark" and "Maut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Mark" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Maut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,975,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mark" and "Maut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs Maut". 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 #1,975,038 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