MattenvsMottenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,829
“Matten” frequency rank
#34,271
“Motten” frequency rank
59100
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Matten Motten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Matta Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Motte

Where the eye mixes Matten and Motten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Matten
6 ch
Motten

Look-alike desk: Matten vs Motten

A purely visual mix-up. Matten ([ˈmatn̩]) and Motten ([ˈmɔtn̩]) 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 - a in “Matten” becomes o in “Motten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Matten is recorded at frequency rank #24,829, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈmatn̩]. Motten is at rank #34,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈmɔtn̩].

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 59100, this pair ranks #837,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Matten vs Motten

Shared letters: emnt. Private to "Matten": a. Private to "Motten": o.

"Matten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Motten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Mattenamtten · maten · matetn · mattenn · mattne · mmatten · mtaten
  • Mottenmmotten · moten · motetn · mottenn · mottne · mtoten · omtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Matten" and "Motten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmatn̩] versus [ˈmɔtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Matten" vs "Motten" - which ranks higher?
"Matten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,829 in our German list, against #34,271 for "Motten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Matten" and "Motten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Matten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Motten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #837,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Matten" and "Motten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Moden vs Motten". 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 #837,330 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