marshvsmaysWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,252
“marsh” frequency rank
#44,064
“mays” frequency rank
78316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature marsh mays
Definition Sumpf, Sumpfland, Marsch, Marschland das Artepitheton für den Mais (Zea mays)

Letter map: marsh vs mays

Shared letters muted; letters that set marsh and mays apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
marsh
4 ch
mays

Corpus notes: marsh and mays

marsh and mays are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78316, 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]. mays is at rank #44,064, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 78316, this pair ranks #241,006 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of marsh vs mays

Shared letters: ams. Private to "marsh": hr. Private to "mays": y.

"marsh" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "mays" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • marshamrsh · marhs · marrsh · marshh · marssh · masrh · mmarsh · mrash
  • maysamys · masy · mayss · mayys · mmays · myas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "marsh" and "mays" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "marsh" vs "mays" - which ranks higher?
"marsh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,252 in our German list, against #44,064 for "mays". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "marsh" and "mays".

  • Full dictionary entry for "marsh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #241,006 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "marsh" and "mays" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mays vs puzzles". 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 #241,006 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