fahndenvsfahndetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,647
“fahnden” frequency rank
#34,088
“fahndet” frequency rank
83735
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fahnden fahndet
Definition (jemanden, etwas) polizeilich suchen (zwecks Verhaftung oder Beschlagnahme) 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fahnden

Where the eye mixes fahnden and fahndet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fahnden and fahndet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
fahnden
7 ch
fahndet

Look-alike desk: fahnden vs fahndet

A purely visual mix-up. fahnden ([ˈfaːndn̩]) and fahndet ([ˈfaːndət]) 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 a single letter - n in “fahnden” becomes t in “fahndet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fahnden is recorded at frequency rank #49,647, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfaːndn̩]. fahndet is at rank #34,088, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfaːndət].

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 83735, this pair ranks #134,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fahnden vs fahndet

Shared letters: adefhn. Private to "fahnden": -. Private to "fahndet": t.

"fahnden" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "fahndet" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fahndenafhnden · fahdnen · fahhnden · fahndden · fahndenn · fahndne · fahnedn · fahnnden
  • fahndetafhndet · fahdnet · fahhndet · fahnddet · fahndett · fahndte · fahnedt · fahnndet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fahnden" and "fahndet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaːndn̩] versus [ˈfaːndət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fahnden" vs "fahndet" - which ranks higher?
"fahndet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,088 in our German list, against #49,647 for "fahnden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fahnden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fahndet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #134,981 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fahnden" and "fahndet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fähnchen vs fahnden". 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 #134,981 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