mannenvsMännleinWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: mannen is a verb, Männlein is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mannen” is a verb and “Männlein” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,797
“mannen” frequency rank
#43,369
“Männlein” frequency rank
78166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mannen Männlein
Definition etwas von Mann zu Mann reichen männliches Tier

Where the eye mixes mannen and Männlein

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
mannen
8 ch
Männlein

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mannen is [ˈmanən] while Männlein is [ˈmɛnlaɪ̯n]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mannen is recorded at frequency rank #34,797, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmanən]. Männlein is at rank #43,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɛnlaɪ̯n].

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 78166, this pair ranks #244,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mannen vs Männlein

Shared letters: emn. Private to "mannen": a. Private to "Männlein": ilä.

"mannen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Männlein" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mannenamnnen · manen · manenn · mannenn · mannne · mmannen · mnanen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mannen" and "Männlein" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mannen" is a verb and "Männlein" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "mannen" or "Männlein"?
"mannen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,797 in our German list, against #43,369 for "Männlein". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "mannen" and "Männlein". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Männlein" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #244,389 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mannen" and "Männlein" 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list