Which to use
“mei” and “mer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,695
- “mei” frequency rank
- #10,134
- “mer” frequency rank
- 20829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mei | mer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | meine, die meinen/meinigen mit Bezug auf mehrere vorher erwähnte Objekte oder Personen | das Meer, die See |
Where the eye mixes mei and mer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mei with mer
A purely visual mix-up. mei ([ˈmeʔi]) and mer ([mεːʀ]) 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 a single letter - i in “mei” becomes r in “mer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mei is recorded at frequency rank #10,695, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmeʔi]. mer is at rank #10,134, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mεːʀ].
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 20829, this pair ranks #1,893,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mei vs mer
Shared letters: em. Private to "mei": i. Private to "mer": r.
"mei" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "mer" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mei" and "mer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mei" vs "mer" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,893,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mei" and "mer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mer vs mora". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,893,263 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.