megvsmoeConfusable pair

Quick tell: meg is a adverb, moe is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“meg” is an adverb and “moe” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,681
“meg” frequency rank
#42,005
“moe” frequency rank
73686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meg moe
Definition Präteritum: kennzeichnet eine Handlung als abgeschlossen müde

Where the eye mixes meg and moe

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

3 ch
meg
3 ch
moe

Visual trap between meg and moe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meg is [mɛɡ] while moe is [muː]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meg is recorded at frequency rank #31,681, classified as anadv, pronounced [mɛɡ]. moe is at rank #42,005, tagged as anadj, pronounced [muː].

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 73686, this pair ranks #353,580 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of meg vs moe

Shared letters: em. Private to "meg": g. Private to "moe": o.

"meg" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "moe" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "meg" for "moe" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "meg" is an adverb and "moe" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "meg" or "moe"?
"meg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,681 in our German list, against #42,005 for "moe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "meg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "moe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #353,580 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "meg" and "moe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moe vs mora". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #353,580 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