MarkevsmarshWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,508
“Marke” frequency rank
#34,252
“marsh” frequency rank
36760
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Marke marsh
Definition eine dauerhafte Kennzeichnung oder Markierung Sumpf, Sumpfland, Marsch, Marschland

Where the eye mixes Marke and marsh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Marke (CVCCV) and marsh (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Marke
5 ch
marsh

Visual trap between Marke and marsh

A purely visual mix-up. Marke ([ˈmaʁkə]) and marsh ([mɑːʃ]) 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 36760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Marke is recorded at frequency rank #2,508, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʁkə]. marsh is at rank #34,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɑːʃ].

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 36760, this pair ranks #1,607,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Marke vs marsh

Shared letters: amr. Private to "Marke": ek. Private to "marsh": hs.

"Marke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "marsh" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Markeamrke · makre · markke · marrke · mmarke · mrake
  • marshamrsh · marhs · marrsh · marshh · marssh · masrh · mmarsh · mrash

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Marke" and "marsh" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaʁkə] versus [mɑːʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Marke" or "marsh" show up more?
"Marke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,508 in our German list, against #34,252 for "marsh". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Marke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "marsh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,607,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Marke" and "marsh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs marsh". 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 #1,607,351 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