marshvsmatchWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,252
“marsh” frequency rank
#6,219
“match” frequency rank
40471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marsh match
Definition Sumpf, Sumpfland, Marsch, Marschland Match; Wettspiel; Wettkampf

Where the eye mixes marsh and match

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
marsh
5 ch
match

Look-alike desk: marsh vs match

A purely visual mix-up. marsh ([mɑːʃ]) and match ([matʃ]) 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 40471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

marsh is recorded at frequency rank #34,252, classified as anoun, pronounced [mɑːʃ]. match is at rank #6,219, tagged as anoun, pronounced [matʃ].

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 40471, this pair ranks #1,507,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of marsh vs match

Shared letters: ahm. Private to "marsh": rs. Private to "match": ct.

"marsh" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "match" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marshamrsh · marhs · marrsh · marshh · marssh · masrh · mmarsh · mrash
  • matchamtch · matcch · matchh · mathc · mattch · mmatch · mtach

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "marsh" for "match" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mɑːʃ] versus [matʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "marsh" or "match"?
"match" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,219 in our German list, against #34,252 for "marsh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "marsh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "match" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,507,521 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "marsh" and "match" 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 #1,507,521 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