modernvsmögenConfusable pair

Quick tell: modern is a adjective, mögen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“modern” is an adjective and “mögen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,450
“modern” frequency rank
#1,705
“mögen” frequency rank
6155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modern mögen
Definition der Zeit entsprechend, neuzeitlich etwas mag sein: etwas ist möglicherweise (vielleicht) oder vermutlich der Fall

Where the eye mixes modern and mögen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
modern
5 ch
mögen

Why the eye confuses modern with mögen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: modern is [moˈdɛʁn] while mögen is [ˈmøːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6155, 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]. mögen is at rank #1,705, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmøːɡn̩].

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 6155, this pair ranks #1,992,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of modern vs mögen

Shared letters: emn. Private to "modern": dor. Private to "mögen": .

"modern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "mögen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modernmdoern · mmodern · moddern · modenr · modernn · moderrn · modren · moedrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "modern" and "mögen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "modern" is an adjective and "mögen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "modern" or "mögen" show up more?
"mögen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,705 in our German list, against #4,450 for "modern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mögen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,992,542 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modern" and "mögen" 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 #1,992,542 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