mähenvsmanchenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mähen is a verb, manchen is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mähen” is a verb and “manchen” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,426
“mähen” frequency rank
#2,117
“manchen” frequency rank
29543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mähen manchen
Definition mit der Sense, Sichel, mit einer Mähmaschine Pflanzen bis zum Ansatz dicht über dem Erdboden wegschneiden Genitiv Singular Maskulinum des Indefinitpronomens manch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mähen and manchen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
mähen
7 ch
manchen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mähen is [ˈmɛːən] while manchen is [ˈmançn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mähen is recorded at frequency rank #27,426, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmɛːən]. manchen is at rank #2,117, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈmançn̩].

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 29543, this pair ranks #1,764,892 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mähen vs manchen

Shared letters: ehmn. Private to "mähen": ä. Private to "manchen": ac.

"mähen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "manchen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • manchenamnchen · macnhen · mancchen · mancehn · manchenn · manchhen · manchne · manhcen

Frequency comparison

mähen#27,426
manchen#2,117

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mähen" and "manchen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mähen" is a verb and "manchen" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mähen" or "manchen"?
"manchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,117 in our German list, against #27,426 for "mähen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering mähen vs manchen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “mähen”; for an unknown, it's “manchen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mähen” 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