FadenvsFedernWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,532
“Faden” frequency rank
#8,860
“Federn” frequency rank
15392
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Faden Federn
Definition aus Fasern gedrehter, dünner und langer Körper Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Feder

Where the eye mixes Faden and Federn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Faden
6 ch
Federn

Visual trap between Faden and Federn

A purely visual mix-up. Faden ([ˈfaːdn̩]) and Federn ([ˈfeːdɐn]) 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 15392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Faden is recorded at frequency rank #6,532, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːdn̩]. Federn is at rank #8,860, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːdɐn].

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 15392, this pair ranks #1,944,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Faden vs Federn

Shared letters: defn. Private to "Faden": a. Private to "Federn": r.

"Faden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Federn" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fadenafden · fadden · fadenn · fadne · faedn · fdaen · ffaden
  • Federnefdern · fdeern · feddern · fedenr · federnn · federrn · fedren · feedrn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Faden" for "Federn" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaːdn̩] versus [ˈfeːdɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Faden" vs "Federn" - which ranks higher?
"Faden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,532 in our German list, against #8,860 for "Federn". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Faden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Federn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,944,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Faden" and "Federn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Federn vs Flyern". 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 #1,944,212 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