MeeresvsmehrenConfusable pair

Quick tell: Meeres is a noun, mehren is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Meeres” is a noun and “mehren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,873
“Meeres” frequency rank
#23,233
“mehren” frequency rank
38106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Meeres mehren
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Meer eine Zunahme erwirken, vergrößern

Where the eye mixes Meeres and mehren

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

6 ch
Meeres
6 ch
mehren

Why the eye confuses Meeres with mehren

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Meeres is [ˈmeːʁəs] while mehren is [ˈmeːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Meeres is recorded at frequency rank #14,873, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmeːʁəs]. mehren is at rank #23,233, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmeːʁən].

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 38106, this pair ranks #1,572,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Meeres vs mehren

Shared letters: emr. Private to "Meeres": s. Private to "mehren": hn.

"Meeres" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "mehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Meeres ← emeres · meeers · meeress · meerres · meerse · merees · meres · mmeeres
  • mehren ← emhren · mehern · mehhren · mehrenn · mehrne · mehrren · merhen · mheren

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Meeres" and "mehren" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Meeres" is a noun and "mehren" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Meeres" or "mehren"?
"Meeres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,873 in our German list, against #23,233 for "mehren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Meeres" and "mehren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Meeres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,572,617 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Meeres" and "mehren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mehren vs Möhre". 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 #1,572,617 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