Which to use
“modern” and “moderne” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,450
- “modern” frequency rank
- #1,741
- “moderne” frequency rank
- 6191
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | modern | moderne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Zeit entsprechend, neuzeitlich | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs modern |
Where the eye mixes modern and moderne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses modern with moderne
A purely visual mix-up. modern ([moˈdɛʁn]) and moderne ([moˈdɛʁnə]) 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) - “modern” sits inside “moderne”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
modern is recorded at frequency rank #4,450, classified as anadj, pronounced [moˈdɛʁn]. moderne is at rank #1,741, tagged as anadj, pronounced [moˈdɛʁnə].
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 6191, this pair ranks #1,992,423 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of modern vs moderne
Shared letters: demnor. Private to "modern": -. Private to "moderne": -.
"modern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "moderne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "modern" and "moderne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "modern" vs "moderne" - 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 "modern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moderne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,992,423 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "modern" and "moderne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modern vs Mörderin". 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 #1,992,423 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.