AmmevsAmtesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,639
“Amme” frequency rank
#8,821
“Amtes” frequency rank
50460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Amme Amtes
Definition eine ein fremdes Kind stillende und betreuende Frau Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Amt

Where the eye mixes Amme and Amtes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Amme runs 4 letters (VCCV) against Amtes's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Amme
5 ch
Amtes

Why the eye confuses Amme with Amtes

A purely visual mix-up. Amme ([ˈamə]) and Amtes ([ˈamtəs]) 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 50460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Amme is recorded at frequency rank #41,639, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈamə]. Amtes is at rank #8,821, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈamtəs].

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 50460, this pair ranks #1,172,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Amme vs Amtes

Shared letters: aem. Private to "Amme": -. Private to "Amtes": st.

"Amme" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Amtes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Amme ← ame · amem · mame
  • Amtes ← amets · ammtes · amtess · amtse · amttes · atmes · mates

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Amme" and "Amtes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈamə] versus [ˈamtəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Amme" or "Amtes" show up more?
"Amtes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,821 in our German list, against #41,639 for "Amme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Amme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Amtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,172,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Amme" and "Amtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amme vs Atze". 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 #1,172,877 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