magervsmagmaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mager is a adjective, magma is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#21,349
“mager” frequency rank
#40,079
“magma” frequency rank
61428
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mager magma
Definition dünn, dürr das Magma

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mager and magma apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
mager
5 ch
magma

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mager is anadjective and magmaanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61428, 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]. magma is at rank #40,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 61428, this pair ranks #750,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mager vs magma

Shared letters: agm. Private to "mager": er. Private to "magma": -.

"mager" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "magma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mageramger · maegr · magerr · magger · magre · mgaer · mmager
  • magmaamgma · magam · maggma · magmma · mamga · mgama · mmagma

Frequency comparison

mager#21,349
magma#40,079

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mager" and "magma" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mager" is an adjective and "magma" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mager" or "magma"?
"mager" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,349 in our German list, against #40,079 for "magma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mager vs magma

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “mager”; for a noun, it's “magma”.
  • 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