magervsmagereWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,349
“mager” frequency rank
#33,708
“magere” frequency rank
55057
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mager magere
Definition dünn, dürr Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mager

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
mager
6 ch
magere

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mager ([ˈmaːɡɐ]) and magere ([ˈmaːɡəʁə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “mager” sits inside “magere”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mager is recorded at frequency rank #21,349, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaːɡɐ]. magere is at rank #33,708, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaːɡəʁə].

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 55057, this pair ranks #994,452 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mager vs magere

Shared letters: aegmr. Private to "mager": -. Private to "magere": -.

"mager" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "magere" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mageramger · maegr · magerr · magger · magre · mgaer · mmager
  • magereamgere · maegre · mageer · magerre · maggere · magree · mgaere · mmagere

Frequency comparison

mager#21,349
magere#33,708

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mager" and "magere" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmaːɡɐ] versus [ˈmaːɡəʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mager" or "magere"?
"mager" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,349 in our German list, against #33,708 for "magere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mager vs magere

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mager” 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