Which to use
“mauern” is a verb and “modern” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,086
- “mauern” frequency rank
- #4,450
- “modern” frequency rank
- 10536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mauern | modern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Steine mit Mörtel aufeinanderschichten | der Zeit entsprechend, neuzeitlich |
Where the eye mixes mauern and modern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mauern and modern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mauern is [ˈmaʊ̯ɐn] while modern is [moˈdɛʁn]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mauern is recorded at frequency rank #6,086, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmaʊ̯ɐn]. modern is at rank #4,450, tagged as anadj, pronounced [moˈdɛʁn].
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 10536, this pair ranks #1,974,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mauern vs modern
Shared letters: emnr. Private to "mauern": au. Private to "modern": do.
"mauern" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC · "modern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mauern" and "modern" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "mauern" or "modern" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mauern" and "modern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mauern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,974,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mauern" and "modern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mauern vs Mauser". 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 #1,974,646 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.