abervsagesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aber is a conjunction, ages is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aber” is a conjunction and “ages” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31
“aber” frequency rank
#48,682
“ages” frequency rank
48713
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aber ages
Definition jedoch, dagegen Plural des Substantivs age

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aber and ages apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
aber
4 ch
ages

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aber is [ˈaːbɐ] while ages is [ˈeɪdʒɪz]. 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 (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aber is recorded at frequency rank #31, classified as aconj, pronounced [ˈaːbɐ]. ages is at rank #48,682, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈeɪdʒɪz].

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 48713, this pair ranks #1,238,408 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aber vs ages

Shared letters: ae. Private to "aber": br. Private to "ages": gs.

"aber" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "ages" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aberabber · aberr · abre · aebr · baer
  • agesaegs · agess · agges

Frequency comparison

aber#31
ages#48,682

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aber" and "ages" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aber" is a conjunction and "ages" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aber" or "ages"?
"aber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31 in our German list, against #48,682 for "ages". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering aber vs ages

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “aber”; for a noun, it's “ages”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aber” 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