Which to use
“fähigen” is an adjective and “fahnden” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,882
- “fähigen” frequency rank
- #49,647
- “fahnden” frequency rank
- 76529
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fähigen | fahnden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fähig | (jemanden, etwas) polizeilich suchen (zwecks Verhaftung oder Beschlagnahme) |
Where the eye mixes fähigen and fahnden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fähigen vs fahnden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fähigen is [ˈfɛːɪɡn̩] while fahnden is [ˈfaːndn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fähigen is recorded at frequency rank #26,882, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛːɪɡn̩]. fahnden is at rank #49,647, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfaːndn̩].
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 76529, this pair ranks #281,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fähigen vs fahnden
Shared letters: efhn. Private to "fähigen": giä. Private to "fahnden": ad.
"fähigen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "fahnden" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fahnden ← afhnden · fahdnen · fahhnden · fahndden · fahndenn · fahndne · fahnedn · fahnnden
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fähigen" for "fahnden" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fähigen" vs "fahnden" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fähigen" and "fahnden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fähigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fahnden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #281,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fähigen" and "fahnden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fahnden vs fahndet". 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 #281,771 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.