meldvsmensWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#28,760
“meld” frequency rank
#38,283
“mens” frequency rank
67043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meld mens
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs melden Mensch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set meld and mens apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
meld
4 ch
mens

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: meld is [mɛlt] while mens is [mɛns]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

meld is recorded at frequency rank #28,760, classified as averb, pronounced [mɛlt]. mens is at rank #38,283, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɛns].

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 67043, this pair ranks #553,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of meld vs mens

Shared letters: em. Private to "meld": dl. Private to "mens": ns.

"meld" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meldemld · medl · meldd · melld · mled · mmeld
  • mensemns · menns · menss · mesn · mmens · mnes

Frequency comparison

meld#28,760
mens#38,283

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "meld" and "mens" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "meld" is a verb and "mens" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "meld" or "mens"?
"meld" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,760 in our German list, against #38,283 for "mens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering meld vs mens

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “meld”; for a noun, it's “mens”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “meld” 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