angevsÄngsteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,513
“ange” frequency rank
#7,704
“Ängste” frequency rank
36217
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ange Ängste
Definition Religion: (zumeist mit Flügeln gedachtes) überirdisches Wesen, das als Bote Gottes fungiert Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Angst

Where the eye mixes ange and Ängste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ange runs 4 letters (VCCV) against Ängste's 6 (VCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
ange
6 ch
Ängste

Why the eye confuses ange with Ängste

A purely visual mix-up. ange ([ɑ̃ːʒ]) and Ängste ([ˈɛŋstə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ange is recorded at frequency rank #28,513, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɑ̃ːʒ]. Ängste is at rank #7,704, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛŋstə].

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 36217, this pair ranks #1,621,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ange vs Ängste

Shared letters: egn. Private to "ange": a. Private to "Ängste": stä.

"ange" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Ängste" · 6 letters · shape VCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ange ← agne · aneg · angge · annge · nage

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ange" for "Ängste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɑ̃ːʒ] versus [ˈɛŋstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ange" or "Ängste"?
"Ängste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,704 in our German list, against #28,513 for "ange". 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 "ange" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ängste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,621,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ange" and "Ängste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ange 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 #1,621,154 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