MeilevsmerkeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,698
“Meile” frequency rank
#6,565
“merke” frequency rank
22263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Meile merke
Definition Längenmaß in der Größenordnung von 1 bis 11 Kilometer, früher in Deutschland und Österreich etwa 7,5 Kilometer entsprechend, noch heute offiziell im Vereinigten Königreich und in den Vereinigten Staaten (1,609 Kilometer) sowie inoffiziell noch in Norwegen und Schweden (10 Kilometer) 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs merken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Meile and merke apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Meile
5 ch
merke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Meile is [ˈmaɪ̯lə] while merke is [ˈmɛʁkə]. 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 22263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Meile is recorded at frequency rank #15,698, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmaɪ̯lə]. merke is at rank #6,565, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁkə].

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 22263, this pair ranks #1,876,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Meile vs merke

Shared letters: em. Private to "Meile": il. Private to "merke": kr.

"Meile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "merke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Meileemile · meiel · meille · melie · miele · mmeile
  • merkeemrke · mekre · merek · merkke · merrke · mmerke · mreke

Frequency comparison

Meile#15,698
merke#6,565

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Meile" and "merke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Meile" is a noun and "merke" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Meile" or "merke"?
"merke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,565 in our German list, against #15,698 for "Meile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Meile vs merke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Meile”; for a verb, it's “merke”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Meile” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list