männlichenvsmännlichesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,013
“männlichen” frequency rank
#30,696
“männliches” frequency rank
35709
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature männlichen männliches
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum und Neutrum, Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs männlich

Where the eye mixes männlichen and männliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. männlichen and männliches follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
männlichen
10 ch
männliches

Why the eye confuses männlichen with männliches

A purely visual mix-up. männlichen ([ˈmɛnlɪçn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “männlichen” becomes s in “männliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35709, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

männlichen is recorded at frequency rank #5,013, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈmɛnlɪçn̩]. 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 35709, this pair ranks #1,633,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of männlichen vs männliches

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

"männlichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "männliches" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "männlichen" and "männliches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmɛnlɪçn̩] versus [ˈmɛnlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "männlichen" vs "männliches" - which ranks higher?
"männlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,013 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.

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 "männlichen" 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 #1,633,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "männlichen" and "männliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "männlicher vs männliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,633,464 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