meldevsmileWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,626
“melde” frequency rank
#42,680
“mile” frequency rank
48306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature melde mile
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs melden Meile

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
melde
4 ch
mile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: melde is [ˈmɛldə] while mile is [maɪl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

melde is recorded at frequency rank #5,626, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛldə]. mile is at rank #42,680, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maɪl].

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 48306, this pair ranks #1,253,399 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of melde vs mile

Shared letters: elm. Private to "melde": d. Private to "mile": i.

"melde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "mile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meldeemlde · medle · meldde · meled · mellde · mlede · mmelde
  • mileimle · miel · mlie · mmile

Frequency comparison

melde#5,626
mile#42,680

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "melde" and "mile" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "melde" is a verb and "mile" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "melde" or "mile"?
"melde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,626 in our German list, against #42,680 for "mile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering melde vs mile

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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