matavsmitConfusable pair

Quick tell: mata is a noun, mit is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mata” is a noun and “mit” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,084
“mata” frequency rank
#12
“mit” frequency rank
40096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mata mit
Definition Plural des Substantivs mace etwas oder jemandem angeschlossen oder damit als gewisse Einheit verbunden; zusammen

Where the eye mixes mata and mit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
mata
3 ch
mit

Look-alike desk: mata vs mit

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mata is [máːtáː] while mit is [mɪt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mata is recorded at frequency rank #40,084, classified as anoun, pronounced [máːtáː]. mit is at rank #12, tagged as aprep, pronounced [mɪt].

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 40096, this pair ranks #1,518,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mata vs mit

Shared letters: mt. Private to "mata": a. Private to "mit": i.

"mata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "mit" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mataamta · maat · matta · mmata · mtaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mata" and "mit" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mata" is a noun and "mit" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "mata" or "mit" show up more?
"mit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12 in our German list, against #40,084 for "mata". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "mata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,518,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mata" and "mit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mata vs mora". 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 #1,518,151 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