Which to use
“merken” and “morden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,139
- “merken” frequency rank
- #11,710
- “morden” frequency rank
- 14849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merken | morden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas mit den Sinnen wahrnehmen, sich einer Sache bewusst werden | jemanden vorsätzlich töten, einen Mord verüben |
Where the eye mixes merken and morden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses merken with morden
A purely visual mix-up. merken ([ˈmɛʁkn̩]) and morden ([ˈmɔʁdn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merken is recorded at frequency rank #3,139, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁkn̩]. morden is at rank #11,710, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɔʁdn̩].
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 14849, this pair ranks #1,948,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of merken vs morden
Shared letters: emnr. Private to "merken": k. Private to "morden": do.
"merken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "morden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "merken" and "morden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "merken" or "morden"?
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 "merken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "morden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,948,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merken" and "morden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maroden vs morden". 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 #1,948,271 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.