MarktvsmerkstTell them apart

Quick tell: Markt is a noun, merkst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Markt” is a noun and “merkst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#885
“Markt” frequency rank
#10,696
“merkst” frequency rank
11581
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Markt merkst
Definition Einrichtung/Ort zum Handel mit Waren und Dienstleistungen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs merken

Where the eye mixes Markt and merkst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Markt runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against merkst's 6 (CVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Markt
6 ch
merkst

Look-alike desk: Markt vs merkst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Markt is [maʁkt] while merkst is [mɛʁkst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Markt is recorded at frequency rank #885, classified as anoun, pronounced [maʁkt]. merkst is at rank #10,696, tagged as averb, pronounced [mɛʁkst].

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 11581, this pair ranks #1,969,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Markt vs merkst

Shared letters: kmrt. Private to "Markt": a. Private to "merkst": es.

"Markt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "merkst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Marktamrkt · makrt · markkt · marktt · marrkt · martk · mmarkt · mrakt
  • merkstemrkst · mekrst · merkkst · merksst · merkstt · merkts · merrkst · merskt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Markt" for "merkst" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Markt" is a noun and "merkst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Markt" vs "merkst" - which ranks higher?
"Markt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #885 in our German list, against #10,696 for "merkst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Markt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "merkst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,969,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Markt" and "merkst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merkst vs Murks". 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 #1,969,095 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