MattenvsMotteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#24,829
“Matten” frequency rank
#32,677
“Motte” frequency rank
57506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Matten Motte
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Matta Kleinschmetterling mit etwa 1 cm spannenden schmalen Flügeln, dessen Raupe unter anderem Wolle, Seide, Pelzwerk und Tapeten befällt

Where the eye mixes Matten and Motte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Matten
5 ch
Motte

Visual trap between Matten and Motte

A purely visual mix-up. Matten ([ˈmatn̩]) and Motte ([ˈmɔtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Matten is recorded at frequency rank #24,829, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmatn̩]. Motte is at rank #32,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔtə].

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 57506, this pair ranks #898,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Matten vs Motte

Shared letters: emt. Private to "Matten": an. Private to "Motte": o.

"Matten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Motte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mattenamtten · maten · matetn · mattenn · mattne · mmatten · mtaten
  • Mottemmotte · mote · motet · mtote · omtte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Matten" and "Motte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmatn̩] versus [ˈmɔtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Matten" vs "Motte" - which ranks higher?
"Matten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,829 in our German list, against #32,677 for "Motte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Matten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Motte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #898,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Matten" and "Motte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Möhre vs Motte". 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 #898,747 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