Which to use
“fähig” and “farbig” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,300
- “fähig” frequency rank
- #20,245
- “farbig” frequency rank
- 26545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fähig | farbig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in der Lage, imstande (etwas zu tun); über die Möglichkeiten verfügend, etwas zu tun | mit einer oder mehreren Farben versehen; nicht schwarz, weiß oder grau |
Where the eye mixes fähig and farbig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fähig runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against farbig's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fähig vs farbig
A purely visual mix-up. fähig ([ˈfɛːɪç]) and farbig ([ˈfaʁbɪç]) 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 26545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fähig is recorded at frequency rank #6,300, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛːɪç]. farbig is at rank #20,245, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaʁbɪç].
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 26545, this pair ranks #1,816,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fähig vs farbig
Shared letters: fgi. Private to "fähig": hä. Private to "farbig": abr.
"fähig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "farbig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- farbig ← afrbig · fabrig · farbbig · farbgi · farbigg · faribg · farrbig · ffarbig
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fähig" and "farbig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "fähig" or "farbig" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fähig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "farbig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,816,388 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fähig" and "farbig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Färber vs farbig". 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 #1,816,388 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.