Which to use
“mel” is a noun and “melk” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,943
- “mel” frequency rank
- #41,987
- “melk” frequency rank
- 57930
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mel | melk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Honig | Milch gebend |
Where the eye mixes mel and melk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mel with melk
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mel is [mɛɫ] while melk is [mɛlk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “mel” sits inside “melk”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mel is recorded at frequency rank #15,943, classified as anoun, pronounced [mɛɫ]. melk is at rank #41,987, tagged as anadj, pronounced [mɛlk].
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 57930, this pair ranks #882,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mel vs melk
Shared letters: elm. Private to "mel": -. Private to "melk": k.
"mel" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "melk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- melk ← emlk · mekl · melkk · mellk · mlek · mmelk
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mel" and "melk" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mel" or "melk"?
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 "mel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "melk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #882,316 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mel" and "melk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs melk". 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 #882,316 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.