momentanvsmomentaneWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,211
“momentan” frequency rank
#25,241
“momentane” frequency rank
27452
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature momentan momentane
Definition in diesem Moment, jetzt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs momentan

Where the eye mixes momentan and momentane

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. momentan runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against momentane's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
momentan
9 ch
momentane

Visual trap between momentan and momentane

A purely visual mix-up. momentan ([momɛnˈtaːn]) and momentane ([momɛnˈtaːnə]) 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) - “momentan” sits inside “momentane”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

momentan is recorded at frequency rank #2,211, classified as anadj, pronounced [momɛnˈtaːn]. momentane is at rank #25,241, tagged as anadj, pronounced [momɛnˈtaːnə].

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 27452, this pair ranks #1,801,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of momentan vs momentane

Shared letters: aemnot. Private to "momentan": -. Private to "momentane": -.

"momentan" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "momentane" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • momentan ← mmoentan · mmomentan · moemntan · momenatn · momenntan · momentann · momentna · momenttan
  • momentane ← mmoentane · mmomentane · moemntane · momenatne · momenntane · momentaen · momentnae · momenttane

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "momentan" for "momentane" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([momɛnˈtaːn] versus [momɛnˈtaːnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "momentan" vs "momentane" - which ranks higher?
"momentan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,211 in our German list, against #25,241 for "momentane". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "momentan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "momentane" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,801,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "momentan" and "momentane" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "momentane vs momentanen". 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 #1,801,564 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