AmselvsAmtesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,326
“Amsel” frequency rank
#8,821
“Amtes” frequency rank
51147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Amsel Amtes
Definition großer, schwarzer Singvogel mit gelbem Schnabel aus der Familie der Drosseln Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Amt

Where the eye mixes Amsel and Amtes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Amsel
5 ch
Amtes

Why the eye confuses Amsel with Amtes

A purely visual mix-up. Amsel ([ˈamzəl]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Amsel is recorded at frequency rank #42,326, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈamzəl]. 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 51147, this pair ranks #1,146,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Amsel vs Amtes

Shared letters: aems. Private to "Amsel": l. Private to "Amtes": t.

"Amsel" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "Amtes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Amselamesl · ammsel · amsell · amsle · amssel · asmel · masel
  • Amtesamets · ammtes · amtess · amtse · amttes · atmes · mates

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Amsel" for "Amtes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈamzəl] versus [ˈamtəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Amsel" or "Amtes"?
"Amtes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,821 in our German list, against #42,326 for "Amsel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Amsel" and "Amtes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Amsel" 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 #1,146,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Amsel" and "Amtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amsel vs apel". 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 #1,146,663 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