MärschevsMaschenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,863
“Märsche” frequency rank
#23,614
“Maschen” frequency rank
70477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Märsche Maschen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Marsch Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Masche

Where the eye mixes Märsche and Maschen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Märsche (CVCCCCV) and Maschen (CVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
Märsche
7 ch
Maschen

Why the eye confuses Märsche with Maschen

A purely visual mix-up. Märsche ([ˈmɛʁʃə]) and Maschen ([ˈmaʃn̩]) 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 6 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Märsche is recorded at frequency rank #46,863, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɛʁʃə]. Maschen is at rank #23,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʃn̩].

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 70477, this pair ranks #445,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Märsche vs Maschen

Shared letters: cehms. Private to "Märsche": rä. Private to "Maschen": an.

"Märsche" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "Maschen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Maschen ← amschen · macshen · mascchen · mascehn · maschenn · maschhen · maschne · mashcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Märsche" and "Maschen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɛʁʃə] versus [ˈmaʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Märsche" vs "Maschen" - which ranks higher?
"Maschen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,614 in our German list, against #46,863 for "Märsche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Märsche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Maschen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #445,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Märsche" and "Maschen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Märsche vs Mascha". 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 #445,168 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