factsvsFakesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,717
“facts” frequency rank
#47,380
“Fakes” frequency rank
75097
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature facts Fakes
Definition Plural des Substantivs fact Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Fake

Where the eye mixes facts and Fakes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. facts (CVCCC) and Fakes (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
facts
5 ch
Fakes

Visual trap between facts and Fakes

A purely visual mix-up. facts ([fækts]) and Fakes ([fɛɪ̯ks]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

facts is recorded at frequency rank #27,717, classified as anoun, pronounced [fækts]. Fakes is at rank #47,380, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɪ̯ks].

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 75097, this pair ranks #316,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of facts vs Fakes

Shared letters: afs. Private to "facts": ct. Private to "Fakes": ek.

"facts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Fakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • facts ← afcts · faccts · facst · factss · factts · fatcs · fcats · ffacts
  • Fakes ← afkes · faeks · fakess · fakkes · fakse · ffakes · fkaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "facts" for "Fakes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fækts] versus [fɛɪ̯ks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "facts" vs "Fakes" - which ranks higher?
"facts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,717 in our German list, against #47,380 for "Fakes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "facts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fakes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #316,510 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "facts" and "Fakes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fachs vs Fakes". 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 #316,510 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