mothervsMotteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,070
“mother” frequency rank
#32,677
“Motte” frequency rank
54747
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mother Motte
Definition weiblicher Elternteil; Mutter Kleinschmetterling mit etwa 1 cm spannenden schmalen Flügeln, dessen Raupe unter anderem Wolle, Seide, Pelzwerk und Tapeten befällt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mother and Motte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mother
5 ch
Motte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mother ([ˈmʌðə]) and Motte ([ˈmɔtə]) 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 54747, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mother is recorded at frequency rank #22,070, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmʌðə]. Motte is at rank #32,677, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔtə].

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 54747, this pair ranks #1,006,661 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mother vs Motte

Shared letters: emot. Private to "mother": hr. Private to "Motte": -.

"mother" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Motte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mothermmother · mohter · motehr · motherr · mothher · mothre · motther · mtoher
  • Mottemmotte · mote · motet · mtote · omtte

Frequency comparison

mother#22,070
Motte#32,677

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mother" and "Motte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmʌðə] versus [ˈmɔtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mother" or "Motte"?
"mother" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,070 in our German list, against #32,677 for "Motte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mother vs Motte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mother” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list