Which to use
“merkte” is a verb and “Merkur” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,596
- “merkte” frequency rank
- #12,128
- “Merkur” frequency rank
- 20724
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merkte | Merkur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs merken | der der Sonne am nächsten stehende Planet unseres Sonnensystems |
Where the eye mixes merkte and Merkur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. merkte (CVCCCV) and Merkur (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between merkte and Merkur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: merkte is [ˈmɛʁktə] while Merkur is [mɛʁˈkuːɐ̯]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merkte is recorded at frequency rank #8,596, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛʁktə]. Merkur is at rank #12,128, tagged as aname, pronounced [mɛʁˈkuːɐ̯].
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 20724, this pair ranks #1,894,471 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of merkte vs Merkur
Shared letters: ekmr. Private to "merkte": t. Private to "Merkur": u.
"merkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "Merkur" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "merkte" and "Merkur" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "merkte" or "Merkur" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "merkte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Merkur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,894,471 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merkte" and "Merkur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merkte 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 #1,894,471 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.