agesvsÄrgerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,682
“ages” frequency rank
#3,498
“Ärger” frequency rank
52180
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ages Ärger
Definition Plural des Substantivs age spontane, innere, emotionale Reaktion hochgradiger Unzufriedenheit auf eine Situation, eine Person oder eine Erinnerung, die der Verärgerte lieber anders gesehen hätte

Where the eye mixes ages and Ärger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ages runs 4 letters (VCVC) against Ärger's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
ages
5 ch
Ärger

Look-alike desk: ages vs Ärger

A purely visual mix-up. ages ([ˈeɪdʒɪz]) and Ärger ([ˈɛʁɡɐ]) 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 52180, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ages is recorded at frequency rank #48,682, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeɪdʒɪz]. Ärger is at rank #3,498, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐ].

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 52180, this pair ranks #1,106,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ages vs Ärger

Shared letters: eg. Private to "ages": as. Private to "Ärger": rä.

"ages" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "Ärger" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ages ← aegs · agess · agges

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ages" and "Ärger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeɪdʒɪz] versus [ˈɛʁɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ages" or "Ärger"?
"Ärger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,498 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.

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 "ages" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ärger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,106,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ages" and "Ärger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ages vs avis". 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 #1,106,938 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