Which to use
“mental” and “mentalen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,759
- “mental” frequency rank
- #26,101
- “mentalen” frequency rank
- 38860
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mental | mentalen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | geistig, den Geist oder das Denken betreffend, zum Geist gehörig | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mental |
Where the eye mixes mental and mentalen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mental and mentalen
A purely visual mix-up. mental ([mɛnˈtaːl]) and mentalen ([mɛnˈtaːlən]) 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 extra letter(s) - “mental” sits inside “mentalen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mental is recorded at frequency rank #12,759, classified as anadj, pronounced [mɛnˈtaːl]. mentalen is at rank #26,101, tagged as anadj, pronounced [mɛnˈtaːlən].
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 38860, this pair ranks #1,552,711 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mental vs mentalen
Shared letters: aelmnt. Private to "mental": -. Private to "mentalen": -.
"mental" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mentalen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mental" for "mentalen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mental" or "mentalen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mental" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mentalen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,552,711 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mental" and "mentalen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mentalen vs Metallen". 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 #1,552,711 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.