MannsvsMausWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,656
“Manns” frequency rank
#4,634
“Maus” frequency rank
30290
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Manns Maus
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Mann kleines graues oder braunes Säugetier mit überwiegend langem Schwanz, rattenähnlich, in der Zuchtform auch weiß oder schwarz

Where the eye mixes Manns and Maus

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

5 ch
Manns
4 ch
Maus

Visual trap between Manns and Maus

A purely visual mix-up. Manns ([mans]) and Maus ([maʊ̯s]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30290, 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]. Maus is at rank #4,634, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maʊ̯s].

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 30290, this pair ranks #1,750,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Manns vs Maus

Shared letters: ams. Private to "Manns": n. Private to "Maus": u.

"Manns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Maus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mannsamnns · mannss · mansn · mmanns · mnans
  • Mausamus · masu · mauss · mmaus · muas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Manns" and "Maus" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mans] versus [maʊ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Manns" or "Maus" show up more?
"Maus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,634 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 "Maus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,750,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Manns" and "Maus" 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 #1,750,770 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