Which to use
“merke” and “merken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,565
- “merke” frequency rank
- #3,139
- “merken” frequency rank
- 9704
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merke | merken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs merken | etwas mit den Sinnen wahrnehmen, sich einer Sache bewusst werden |
Where the eye mixes merke and merken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: merke vs merken
A purely visual mix-up. merke ([ˈmɛʁkə]) and merken ([ˈmɛʁkn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “merke” sits inside “merken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merke is recorded at frequency rank #6,565, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁkə]. merken is at rank #3,139, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁkn̩].
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 9704, this pair ranks #1,978,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of merke vs merken
Shared letters: ekmr. Private to "merke": -. Private to "merken": n.
"merke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "merken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "merke" and "merken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "merke" or "merken" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "merke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,978,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merke" and "merken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merke vs Mette". 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 #1,978,695 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.