MassenvsmassigWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Massen is a noun, massig is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Massen” is a noun and “massig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,011
“Massen” frequency rank
#28,309
“massig” frequency rank
33320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Massen massig
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Masse mit Masse ausgestattet; über genügend, ausreichend Masse verfügend

Where the eye mixes Massen and massig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Massen and massig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Massen
6 ch
massig

Look-alike desk: Massen vs massig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Massen is [ˈmasn̩] while massig is [ˈmasɪç]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Massen is recorded at frequency rank #5,011, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmasn̩]. massig is at rank #28,309, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈmasɪç].

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 33320, this pair ranks #1,688,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Massen vs massig

Shared letters: ams. Private to "Massen": en. Private to "massig": gi.

"Massen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "massig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Massen ← amssen · masen · masesn · massenn · massne · maßen · mmassen · msasen
  • massig ← amssig · masig · masisg · massgi · massigg · maßig · mmassig · msasig

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Massen" and "massig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Massen" is a noun and "massig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Massen" or "massig"?
"Massen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,011 in our German list, against #28,309 for "massig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Massen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "massig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,688,506 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Massen" and "massig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "massig vs missing". 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 #1,688,506 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