Which to use
“melk” is an adjective and “mer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,987
- “melk” frequency rank
- #10,134
- “mer” frequency rank
- 52121
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | melk | mer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Milch gebend | das Meer, die See |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set melk and mer apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
melk and mer form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
melk is recorded at frequency rank #41,987, classified as anadj, pronounced [mɛlk]. 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 52121, this pair ranks #1,109,198 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "melk" and "mer" be used interchangeably?
Remembering melk vs mer
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “melk”; for a noun, it's “mer”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “melk” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable