LängevslangesTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#1,930
“Länge” frequency rank
#7,500
“langes” frequency rank
9430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Länge langes
Definition eine horizontale Ausdehnung, Dimension Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs lang

Where the eye mixes Länge and langes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Länge
6 ch
langes

Why the eye confuses Länge with langes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Länge is [ˈlɛŋə] while langes is [ˈlaŋəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Länge is recorded at frequency rank #1,930, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛŋə]. langes is at rank #7,500, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaŋəs].

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 9430, this pair ranks #1,979,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Länge vs langes

Shared letters: egln. Private to "Länge": ä. Private to "langes": as.

"Länge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "langes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • langesalnges · lagnes · lanegs · langess · langges · langse · lannges · llanges

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Länge" and "langes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Länge" is a noun and "langes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Länge" or "langes"?
"Länge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,930 in our German list, against #7,500 for "langes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Länge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "langes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,979,975 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Länge" and "langes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Länge". 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 #1,979,975 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