mahnenvsmannenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,659
“mahnen” frequency rank
#34,797
“mannen” frequency rank
67456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mahnen mannen
Definition eindringlich zu einem bestimmten, als erforderlich erachteten Handeln und Benehmen auffordern, drängen etwas von Mann zu Mann reichen

Same sound, different letters: mahnen vs mannen

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. mahnen and mannen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
mahnen
6 ch
mannen

Homophone desk: mahnen vs mannen

This is the hard kind. mahnen and mannen are pronounced identically ([ˈmaːnən]) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - h in “mahnen” becomes n in “mannen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mahnen is recorded at frequency rank #32,659, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaːnən]. mannen is at rank #34,797, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmanən].

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 67456, this pair ranks #539,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mahnen vs mannen

Shared letters: aemn. Private to "mahnen": h. Private to "mannen": -.

"mahnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "mannen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mahnen ← amhnen · mahenn · mahhnen · mahnenn · mahnne · mahnnen · manhen · mhanen
  • mannen ← amnnen · manen · manenn · mannenn · mannne · mmannen · mnanen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mahnen" and "mannen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same ([ˈmaːnən]), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "mahnen" or "mannen"?
"mahnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,659 in our German list, against #34,797 for "mannen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mahnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mannen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #539,555 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mahnen" and "mannen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mailen vs mannen". 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 #539,555 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