Which to use
“fähige” is an adjective and “Farbige” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,051
- “fähige” frequency rank
- #15,084
- “Farbige” frequency rank
- 46135
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fähige | Farbige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fähig | weibliche Person, die einer Bevölkerungsgruppe angehört, deren Haut stark pigmentiert ist, im Gegensatz zum gering pigmentierten Menschentyp, der für Europa, Nordafrika und das westliche Asien charakteristisch ist |
Where the eye mixes fähige and Farbige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fähige runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against Farbige's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fähige with Farbige
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fähige is [ˈfɛːɪɡə] while Farbige is [ˈfaʁbɪɡə]. 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 46135, 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]. Farbige is at rank #15,084, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaʁbɪɡə].
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 46135, this pair ranks #1,329,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fähige vs Farbige
Shared letters: efgi. Private to "fähige": hä. Private to "Farbige": abr.
"fähige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "Farbige" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Farbige ← afrbige · fabrige · farbbige · farbgie · farbieg · farbigge · faribge · farrbige
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fähige" for "Farbige" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fähige" vs "Farbige" - which ranks higher?
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 "fähige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Farbige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,329,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fähige" and "Farbige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fähige vs fällige". 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 #1,329,439 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.