MannvsmataWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#173
“Mann” frequency rank
#40,084
“mata” frequency rank
40257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Mann mata
Definition erwachsener, männlicher Mensch Plural des Substantivs mace

Where the eye mixes Mann and mata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Mann
4 ch
mata

Visual trap between Mann and mata

A purely visual mix-up. Mann ([man]) and mata ([máːtáː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Mann is recorded at frequency rank #173, classified as anoun, pronounced [man]. mata is at rank #40,084, tagged as anoun, pronounced [máːtáː].

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 40257, this pair ranks #1,513,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Mann vs mata

Shared letters: am. Private to "Mann": n. Private to "mata": t.

"Mann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "mata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mannamnn · mmann · mnan
  • mataamta · maat · matta · mmata · mtaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Mann" for "mata" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([man] versus [máːtáː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Mann" or "mata" show up more?
"Mann" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #173 in our German list, against #40,084 for "mata". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Mann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,513,675 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Mann" and "mata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mata vs mora". 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 #1,513,675 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