Which to use
“mangelhafte” and “mangelhaften” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,821
- “mangelhafte” frequency rank
- #39,518
- “mangelhaften” frequency rank
- 62339
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mangelhafte | mangelhaften |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mangelhaft | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mangelhaft |
Where the eye mixes mangelhafte and mangelhaften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. mangelhafte runs 11 letters (CVCCVCCVCCV) against mangelhaften's 12 (CVCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mangelhafte vs mangelhaften
A purely visual mix-up. mangelhafte ([ˈmaŋl̩haftə]) and mangelhaften ([ˈmaŋl̩haftn̩]) 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) - “mangelhafte” sits inside “mangelhaften”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mangelhafte is recorded at frequency rank #22,821, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaŋl̩haftə]. mangelhaften is at rank #39,518, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmaŋl̩haftn̩].
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 62339, this pair ranks #716,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mangelhafte vs mangelhaften
Shared letters: aefghlmnt. Private to "mangelhafte": -. Private to "mangelhaften": -.
"mangelhafte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV · "mangelhaften" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mangelhafte ← amngelhafte · magnelhafte · maneglhafte · mangehlafte · mangelahfte · mangelhafet · mangelhaffte · mangelhaftte
- mangelhaften ← amngelhaften · magnelhaften · maneglhaften · mangehlaften · mangelahften · mangelhafetn · mangelhafften · mangelhaftenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mangelhafte" for "mangelhaften" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mangelhafte" vs "mangelhaften" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mangelhafte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mangelhaften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #716,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mangelhafte" and "mangelhaften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mangelhaft vs mangelhaften". 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 #716,545 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.