Which to use
“mageren” is an adjective and “mauern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,067
- “mageren” frequency rank
- #6,086
- “mauern” frequency rank
- 43153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mageren | mauern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mager | Steine mit Mörtel aufeinanderschichten |
Where the eye mixes mageren and mauern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mageren runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against mauern's 6 (CVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mageren and mauern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mageren is [ˈmaːɡəʁən] while mauern is [ˈmaʊ̯ɐn]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mageren is recorded at frequency rank #37,067, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaːɡəʁən]. mauern is at rank #6,086, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmaʊ̯ɐn].
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 43153, this pair ranks #1,427,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mageren vs mauern
Shared letters: aemnr. Private to "mageren": g. Private to "mauern": u.
"mageren" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "mauern" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mageren" for "mauern" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "mageren" or "mauern" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mageren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mauern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,427,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mageren" and "mauern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mageren vs Mauren". 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 #1,427,008 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.