ÄngstenvsärgstenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Ängsten is a noun, ärgsten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ängsten” is a noun and “ärgsten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,497
“Ängsten” frequency rank
#47,892
“ärgsten” frequency rank
69389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ängsten ärgsten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Angst Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs arg

Where the eye mixes Ängsten and ärgsten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Ängsten and ärgsten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Ängsten
7 ch
ärgsten

Look-alike desk: Ängsten vs ärgsten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ängsten is [ˈɛŋstn̩] while ärgsten is [ˈɛʁkstn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “Ängsten” becomes r in “ärgsten”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ängsten is recorded at frequency rank #21,497, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛŋstn̩]. ärgsten is at rank #47,892, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛʁkstn̩].

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 69389, this pair ranks #478,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Ängsten vs ärgsten

Shared letters: egnstä. Private to "Ängsten": -. Private to "ärgsten": r.

"Ängsten" · 7 letters · shape VCCCCVC  ·  "ärgsten" · 7 letters · shape VCCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ängsten" and "ärgsten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ängsten" is a noun and "ärgsten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ängsten" or "ärgsten"?
"Ängsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,497 in our German list, against #47,892 for "ärgsten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Ängsten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ärgsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #478,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ängsten" and "ärgsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ärgsten vs ärmste". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #478,136 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