Which to use
“Mängeln” is a noun and “mangelte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,427
- “Mängeln” frequency rank
- #42,672
- “mangelte” frequency rank
- 70099
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Mängeln | mangelte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Mangel | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs mangeln |
Where the eye mixes Mängeln and mangelte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Mängeln runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against mangelte's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Mängeln with mangelte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Mängeln is [ˈmɛŋl̩n] while mangelte is [ˈmaŋl̩tə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Mängeln is recorded at frequency rank #27,427, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɛŋl̩n]. mangelte is at rank #42,672, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmaŋl̩tə].
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 70099, this pair ranks #456,479 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Mängeln vs mangelte
Shared letters: eglmn. Private to "Mängeln": ä. Private to "mangelte": at.
"Mängeln" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "mangelte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mangelte ← amngelte · magnelte · maneglte · mangelet · mangellte · mangeltte · mangetle · manggelte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Mängeln" for "mangelte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Mängeln" or "mangelte"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Mängeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mangelte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #456,479 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Mängeln" and "mangelte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mängeln vs Margen". 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 #456,479 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.