Which to use
“meins” and “mes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,085
- “meins” frequency rank
- #31,176
- “mes” frequency rank
- 38261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | meins | mes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum bei nicht attributivem Gebrauch des Possessivpronomens mein | Plural Maskulinum des Pronomens mon |
Where the eye mixes meins and mes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: meins vs mes
A purely visual mix-up. meins ([maɪ̯ns]) and mes ([me]) 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 38261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
meins is recorded at frequency rank #7,085, classified as anunknown, pronounced [maɪ̯ns]. mes is at rank #31,176, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [me].
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 38261, this pair ranks #1,568,539 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of meins vs mes
Shared letters: ems. Private to "meins": in. Private to "mes": -.
"meins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "mes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- meins ← emins · meinns · meinss · meisn · menis · miens · mmeins
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "meins" and "mes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "meins" vs "mes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "meins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,568,539 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "meins" and "mes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Mals vs mes". 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 #1,568,539 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.