Which to use
“merk” is a verb and “mort” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,537
- “merk” frequency rank
- #38,299
- “mort” frequency rank
- 50836
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merk | mort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs merken | der Tod |
Where the eye mixes merk and mort
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. merk and mort follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between merk and mort
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: merk is [mɛʁk] while mort is [mɔʁ]. 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 50836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merk is recorded at frequency rank #12,537, classified as averb, pronounced [mɛʁk]. mort is at rank #38,299, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mɔʁ].
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 50836, this pair ranks #1,158,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of merk vs mort
Shared letters: mr. Private to "merk": ek. Private to "mort": ot.
"merk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "mort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "merk" for "mort" ever safe?
Frequency check: "merk" vs "mort" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "merk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,158,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merk" and "mort" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mora vs mort". 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 #1,158,549 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.