mobilvsmobileConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,453
“mobil” frequency rank
#3,606
“mobile” frequency rank
10059
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mobil mobile
Definition beweglich, an verschiedenen Orten einzusetzen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs mobil

Where the eye mixes mobil and mobile

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

5 ch
mobil
6 ch
mobile

Look-alike desk: mobil vs mobile

A purely visual mix-up. mobil ([moˈbiːl]) and mobile ([moˈbiːlə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “mobil” sits inside “mobile”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mobil is recorded at frequency rank #6,453, classified as anadj, pronounced [moˈbiːl]. mobile is at rank #3,606, tagged as anadj, pronounced [moˈbiːlə].

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 10059, this pair ranks #1,976,985 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mobil vs mobile

Shared letters: bilmo. Private to "mobil": -. Private to "mobile": e.

"mobil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mobile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mobilmboil · mmobil · mobbil · mobill · mobli · moibl · ombil
  • mobilemboile · mmobile · mobbile · mobiel · mobille · moblie · moible · ombile

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mobil" and "mobile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([moˈbiːl] versus [moˈbiːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mobil" vs "mobile" - which ranks higher?
"mobile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,606 in our German list, against #6,453 for "mobil". 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 "mobil" and "mobile" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mobil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mobile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,985 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mobil" and "mobile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mile vs mobile". 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 #1,976,985 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