Which to use
“merke” and “merkten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,565
- “merke” frequency rank
- #34,259
- “merkten” frequency rank
- 40824
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merke | merkten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs merken | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs merken |
Where the eye mixes merke and merkten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. merke runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against merkten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses merke with merkten
A purely visual mix-up. merke ([ˈmɛʁkə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40824, 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]. 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 40824, this pair ranks #1,497,231 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of merke vs merkten
Shared letters: ekmr. Private to "merke": -. Private to "merkten": nt.
"merke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "merkten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "merke" for "merkten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "merke" vs "merkten" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "merke" and "merkten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merke" 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 #1,497,231 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merke" 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 #1,497,231 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.