MärzvsMausWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#621
“März” frequency rank
#4,634
“Maus” frequency rank
5255
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature März Maus
Definition der dritte Monat im Jahr kleines graues oder braunes Säugetier mit überwiegend langem Schwanz, rattenähnlich, in der Zuchtform auch weiß oder schwarz

Where the eye mixes März and Maus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
März
4 ch
Maus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. März ([mɛʁt͡s]) and Maus ([maʊ̯s]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

März is recorded at frequency rank #621, classified as anoun, pronounced [mɛʁt͡s]. Maus is at rank #4,634, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maʊ̯s].

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 5255, this pair ranks #1,995,345 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of März vs Maus

Shared letters: m. Private to "März": rzä. Private to "Maus": asu.

"März" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Maus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mausamus · masu · mauss · mmaus · muas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "März" and "Maus" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mɛʁt͡s] versus [maʊ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "März" or "Maus"?
"März" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #621 in our German list, against #4,634 for "Maus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list