Which to use
“fachen” and “fischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,116
- “fachen” frequency rank
- #9,190
- “fischen” frequency rank
- 38306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fachen | fischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | machen, dass es (gut) brennt | Tiere fangen, die im Wasser leben |
Where the eye mixes fachen and fischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fachen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fischen's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fachen vs fischen
A purely visual mix-up. fachen ([ˈfaxn̩]) and fischen ([ˈfɪʃn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fachen is recorded at frequency rank #29,116, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfaxn̩]. fischen is at rank #9,190, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪʃn̩].
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 38306, this pair ranks #1,567,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fachen vs fischen
Shared letters: cefhn. Private to "fachen": a. Private to "fischen": is.
"fachen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fischen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fachen" and "fischen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "fachen" or "fischen" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fachen" and "fischen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fachen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,567,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fachen" and "fischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fachen vs Fachs". 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 #1,567,386 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.