angevsAnlageWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,513
“ange” frequency rank
#1,651
“Anlage” frequency rank
30164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ange Anlage
Definition Religion: (zumeist mit Flügeln gedachtes) überirdisches Wesen, das als Bote Gottes fungiert persönliche Veranlagung (geistig, körperlich); Faktoren, die durch Erziehung nicht beeinflussbar sind

Where the eye mixes ange and Anlage

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

4 ch
ange
6 ch
Anlage

Why the eye confuses ange with Anlage

A purely visual mix-up. ange ([ɑ̃ːʒ]) and Anlage ([ˈanˌlaːɡə]) 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 30164, 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]. Anlage is at rank #1,651, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈanˌlaːɡə].

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 30164, this pair ranks #1,753,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ange vs Anlage

Shared letters: aegn. Private to "ange": -. Private to "Anlage": l.

"ange" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Anlage" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ange ← agne · aneg · angge · annge · nage
  • Anlage ← alnage · analge · anlaeg · anlagge · anlgae · anllage · annlage · nalage

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ange" and "Anlage" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɑ̃ːʒ] versus [ˈanˌlaːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ange" or "Anlage" show up more?
"Anlage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,651 in our German list, against #28,513 for "ange". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ange" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Anlage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,753,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ange" and "Anlage" 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 #1,753,175 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