matchvsMatheWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,219
“match” frequency rank
#5,624
“Mathe” frequency rank
11843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature match Mathe
Definition Match; Wettspiel; Wettkampf (das Schulfach) Mathematik

Where the eye mixes match and Mathe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. match (CVCCC) and Mathe (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
match
5 ch
Mathe

Visual trap between match and Mathe

A purely visual mix-up. match ([matʃ]) 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 11843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

match is recorded at frequency rank #6,219, classified as anoun, pronounced [matʃ]. 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 11843, this pair ranks #1,967,605 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of match vs Mathe

Shared letters: ahmt. Private to "match": c. Private to "Mathe": e.

"match" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Mathe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • match ← amtch · matcch · matchh · mathc · mattch · mmatch · mtach
  • Mathe ← amthe · mahte · mateh · mathhe · matthe · mmathe · mtahe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "match" and "Mathe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([matʃ] versus [ˈmatə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "match" vs "Mathe" - which ranks higher?
"Mathe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,624 in our German list, against #6,219 for "match". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "match" 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 #1,967,605 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "match" and "Mathe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "match 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 #1,967,605 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