männlichevsmännlichesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,817
“männliche” frequency rank
#30,696
“männliches” frequency rank
35513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature männliche männliches
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs männlich Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs männlich

Where the eye mixes männliche and männliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
männliche
10 ch
männliches

Why the eye confuses männliche with männliches

A purely visual mix-up. männliche ([ˈmɛnlɪçə]) and männliches ([ˈmɛnlɪçəs]) 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) - “männliche” sits inside “männliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

männliche is recorded at frequency rank #4,817, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmɛnlɪçə]. männliches is at rank #30,696, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmɛnlɪçəs].

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 35513, this pair ranks #1,638,217 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of männliche vs männliches

Shared letters: cehilmnä. Private to "männliche": -. Private to "männliches": s.

"männliche" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV  ·  "männliches" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "männliche" and "männliches" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɛnlɪçə] versus [ˈmɛnlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "männliche" or "männliches" show up more?
"männliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,817 in our German list, against #30,696 for "männliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "männliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "männliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,638,217 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "männliche" and "männliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "männlicher vs männliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,638,217 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