modernevsmodernenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,741
“moderne” frequency rank
#2,118
“modernen” frequency rank
3859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature moderne modernen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs modern Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs modern

Where the eye mixes moderne and modernen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. moderne runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against modernen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
moderne
8 ch
modernen

Look-alike desk: moderne vs modernen

A purely visual mix-up. moderne ([moˈdɛʁnə]) and modernen ([moˈdɛʁnən]) 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) - “moderne” sits inside “modernen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

moderne is recorded at frequency rank #1,741, classified as anadj, pronounced [moˈdɛʁnə]. modernen is at rank #2,118, tagged as anadj, pronounced [moˈdɛʁnən].

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 3859, this pair ranks #1,999,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of moderne vs modernen

Shared letters: demnor. Private to "moderne": -. Private to "modernen": -.

"moderne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "modernen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • moderne ← mdoerne · mmoderne · modderne · modenre · moderen · modernne · moderrne · modrene
  • modernen ← mdoernen · mmodernen · moddernen · modenren · moderenn · modernenn · modernnen · moderrnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "moderne" for "modernen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([moˈdɛʁnə] versus [moˈdɛʁnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "moderne" vs "modernen" - which ranks higher?
"moderne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,741 in our German list, against #2,118 for "modernen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "moderne" and "modernen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "moderne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modernen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,999,200 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "moderne" and "modernen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Moden vs moderne". 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 #1,999,200 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