FächernvsflacherWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Fächern is a noun, flacher is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Fächern” is a noun and “flacher” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,237
“Fächern” frequency rank
#21,599
“flacher” frequency rank
32836
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fächern flacher
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Fächer Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs flach

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Fächern and flacher apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Fächern
7 ch
flacher

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fächern is [ˈfɛçɐn] while flacher is [ˈflaxɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 6 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fächern is recorded at frequency rank #11,237, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛçɐn]. flacher is at rank #21,599, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈflaxɐ].

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 32836, this pair ranks #1,699,002 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fächern vs flacher

Shared letters: cefhr. Private to "Fächern": . Private to "flacher": al.

"Fächern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "flacher" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flacherfalcher · fflacher · flaccher · flacehr · flacherr · flachher · flachre · flahcer

Frequency comparison

Fächern#11,237
flacher#21,599

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fächern" and "flacher" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fächern" is a noun and "flacher" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fächern" or "flacher"?
"Fächern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,237 in our German list, against #21,599 for "flacher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Fächern vs flacher

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Fächern”; for an adjective, it's “flacher”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Fächern” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list