MannsvsmasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,656
“Manns” frequency rank
#17,981
“mas” frequency rank
43637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Manns mas
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Mann der Bauernhof, das Bauernhaus

Where the eye mixes Manns and mas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Manns
3 ch
mas

Why the eye confuses Manns with mas

A purely visual mix-up. Manns ([mans]) and mas ([mas]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Manns is recorded at frequency rank #25,656, classified as anoun, pronounced [mans]. mas is at rank #17,981, tagged as anoun, pronounced [mas].

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 43637, this pair ranks #1,411,712 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Manns vs mas

Shared letters: ams. Private to "Manns": n. Private to "mas": -.

"Manns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "mas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mannsamnns · mannss · mansn · mmanns · mnans

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Manns" for "mas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mans] versus [mas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Manns" or "mas" show up more?
"mas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,981 in our German list, against #25,656 for "Manns". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Manns" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,411,712 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Manns" and "mas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs Manns". 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 #1,411,712 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