Which to use
“merle” and “mile” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,761
- “merle” frequency rank
- #42,680
- “mile” frequency rank
- 71441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merle | mile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Amsel | Meile |
Where the eye mixes merle and mile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. merle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against mile's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between merle and mile
A purely visual mix-up. merle ([mɛʁl]) and mile ([maɪl]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merle is recorded at frequency rank #28,761, classified as anoun, pronounced [mɛʁl]. mile is at rank #42,680, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maɪl].
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 71441, this pair ranks #416,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of merle vs mile
Shared letters: elm. Private to "merle": r. Private to "mile": i.
"merle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "merle" and "mile" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "merle" vs "mile" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "merle" and "mile" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merle" and "mile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mile vs Milfs". 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 #416,730 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.