adevsagesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#25,874
“ade” frequency rank
#48,682
“ages” frequency rank
74556
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ade ages
Definition ehemals viel weiter verbreiteter, jetzt im Fränkischen, Schwäbischen und Oberschwäbischen beliebter Abschiedsgruß Plural des Substantivs age

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
ade
4 ch
ages

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ade is [aˈdeː] while ages is [ˈeɪdʒɪz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (phrase vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ade is recorded at frequency rank #25,874, classified as aphrase, pronounced [aˈdeː]. 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 74556, this pair ranks #330,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ade vs ages

Shared letters: ae. Private to "ade": d. Private to "ages": gs.

"ade" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ages" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • agesaegs · agess · agges

Frequency comparison

ade#25,874
ages#48,682

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ade" and "ages" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ade" is a phrase and "ages" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ade" or "ages"?
"ade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,874 in our German list, against #48,682 for "ages". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ade vs ages

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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