MaskevsMatheWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,623
“Maske” frequency rank
#5,624
“Mathe” frequency rank
11247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Maske Mathe
Definition Gegenstand zur Verhüllung oder zum Schutz (das Schulfach) Mathematik

Where the eye mixes Maske and Mathe

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

5 ch
Maske
5 ch
Mathe

Look-alike desk: Maske vs Mathe

A purely visual mix-up. Maske ([ˈmaskə]) and Mathe ([ˈmatə]) 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 11247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Maske is recorded at frequency rank #5,623, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaskə]. Mathe is at rank #5,624, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmatə].

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 11247, this pair ranks #1,970,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Maske vs Mathe

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Maske": ks. Private to "Mathe": ht.

"Maske" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Mathe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Maskeamske · makse · masek · maskke · masske · mmaske · msake
  • Matheamthe · mahte · mateh · mathhe · matthe · mmathe · mtahe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Maske" and "Mathe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaskə] versus [ˈmatə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Maske" vs "Mathe" - which ranks higher?
"Maske" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,623 in our German list, against #5,624 for "Mathe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Maske" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Mathe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,970,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Maske" and "Mathe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mathe vs Matze". 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 #1,970,875 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