LändervslängerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,116
“Länder” frequency rank
#864
“länger” frequency rank
1980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Länder länger
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Land Prädikative und adverbielle Form des Komparativs des Adjektivs lang

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Länder and länger apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Länder
6 ch
länger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Länder and länger form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - d in “Länder” becomes g in “länger” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Länder is recorded at frequency rank #1,116, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛndɐ]. länger is at rank #864, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlɛŋɐ].

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 1980, this pair ranks #2,003,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

Länder#1,116
länger#864

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Länder" and "länger" be used interchangeably?
No, "Länder" and "länger" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Länder vs länger

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Länder”; for an adjective, it's “länger”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Länder” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list