Which to use
“melken” and “merkten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,412
- “melken” frequency rank
- #34,259
- “merkten” frequency rank
- 61671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | melken | merkten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Milch vom Milchvieh gewinnen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs merken |
Where the eye mixes melken and merkten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. melken runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against merkten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between melken and merkten
A purely visual mix-up. melken ([ˈmɛlkn̩]) and merkten ([ˈmɛʁktn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
melken is recorded at frequency rank #27,412, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛlkn̩]. merkten is at rank #34,259, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁktn̩].
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 61671, this pair ranks #741,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of melken vs merkten
Shared letters: ekmn. Private to "melken": l. Private to "merkten": rt.
"melken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "merkten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "melken" and "merkten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "melken" or "merkten"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "melken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merkten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #741,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "melken" and "merkten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "marten vs merkten". 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 #741,004 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.