Which to use
“Märkte” is a noun and “merkten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,567
- “Märkte” frequency rank
- #34,259
- “merkten” frequency rank
- 40826
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Märkte | merkten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Markt | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs merken |
Where the eye mixes Märkte and merkten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Märkte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against merkten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Märkte with merkten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Märkte is [ˈmɛʁktə] while merkten is [ˈmɛʁktn̩]. 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 40826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Märkte is recorded at frequency rank #6,567, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɛʁktə]. merkten is at rank #34,259, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁktn̩].
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 40826, this pair ranks #1,497,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Märkte vs merkten
Shared letters: ekmrt. Private to "Märkte": ä. Private to "merkten": n.
"Märkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "merkten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- merkten ← emrkten · mekrten · merketn · merkkten · merktenn · merktne · merktten · merrkten
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Märkte" and "merkten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Märkte" or "merkten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Märkte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merkten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,497,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Märkte" and "merkten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marten vs merkten". 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 #1,497,182 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.