Which to use
“Mauer” and “Maul” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,057
- “Mauer” frequency rank
- #4,537
- “Maul” frequency rank
- 7594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mauer | Maul |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wand eines Gebäudes aus Stein, Beton oder auch Lehm | Körperöffnung bei Tieren, durch die Nahrung aufgenommen wird |
Where the eye mixes Mauer and Maul
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Mauer with Maul
A purely visual mix-up. Mauer ([ˈmaʊ̯ɐ]) and Maul ([maʊ̯l]) 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 7594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mauer is recorded at frequency rank #3,057, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaʊ̯ɐ]. Maul is at rank #4,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maʊ̯l].
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 7594, this pair ranks #1,987,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Mauer vs Maul
Shared letters: amu. Private to "Mauer": er. Private to "Maul": l.
"Mauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "Maul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Mauer" and "Maul" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Mauer" or "Maul"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mauer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Maul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,987,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mauer" and "Maul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs Maul". 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 #1,987,587 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.