mitmachenvsmitmischenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“mitmachen” and “mitmischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,293
“mitmachen” frequency rank
#37,086
“mitmischen” frequency rank
41379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mitmachen mitmischen
Definition sich bei etwas beteiligen, bei etwas anschließen, etwas mit jemandem zusammen tun sich unaufgefordert beteiligen

Where the eye mixes mitmachen and mitmischen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
mitmachen
10 ch
mitmischen

Why the eye confuses mitmachen with mitmischen

A purely visual mix-up. mitmachen ([ˈmɪtˌmaxn̩]) and mitmischen ([ˈmɪtˌmɪʃn̩]) 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 41379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mitmachen is recorded at frequency rank #4,293, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪtˌmaxn̩]. mitmischen is at rank #37,086, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmɪtˌmɪʃn̩].

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 41379, this pair ranks #1,481,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mitmachen vs mitmischen

Shared letters: cehimnt. Private to "mitmachen": a. Private to "mitmischen": s.

"mitmachen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "mitmischen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mitmachenimtmachen · mimtachen · mitamchen · mitmacchen · mitmacehn · mitmachenn · mitmachhen · mitmachne
  • mitmischenimtmischen · mimtischen · mitimschen · mitmicshen · mitmiscchen · mitmiscehn · mitmischenn · mitmischhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mitmachen" for "mitmischen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɪtˌmaxn̩] versus [ˈmɪtˌmɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "mitmachen" or "mitmischen" show up more?
"mitmachen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,293 in our German list, against #37,086 for "mitmischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mitmachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mitmischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,481,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mitmachen" and "mitmischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mitmischen vs mythischen". 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 #1,481,207 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list