fähigevsFähreConfusable pair

Quick tell: fähige is a adjective, Fähre is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#31,051
“fähige” frequency rank
#10,659
“Fähre” frequency rank
41710
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fähige Fähre
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fähig spezielles Schiff, das der (gewerbsmäßigen) Beförderung von Personen und/oder Transportmitteln von Ufer zu Ufer dient

Where the eye mixes fähige and Fähre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fähige runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against Fähre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fähige
5 ch
Fähre

Look-alike desk: fähige vs Fähre

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fähige is [ˈfɛːɪɡə] while Fähre is [ˈfɛːʁə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fähige is recorded at frequency rank #31,051, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛːɪɡə]. Fähre is at rank #10,659, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛːʁə].

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 41710, this pair ranks #1,471,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fähige vs Fähre

Shared letters: efhä. Private to "fähige": gi. Private to "Fähre": r.

"fähige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Fähre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fähige" and "Fähre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fähige" is an adjective and "Fähre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "fähige" or "Fähre" show up more?
"Fähre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,659 in our German list, against #31,051 for "fähige". 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 "fähige" and "Fähre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fähige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fähre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,471,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fähige" and "Fähre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fähige vs fällige". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,471,378 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