fahndenvsFahrtenTell them apart

Quick tell: fahnden is a verb, Fahrten is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fahnden” is a verb and “Fahrten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,647
“fahnden” frequency rank
#8,360
“Fahrten” frequency rank
58007
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fahnden Fahrten
Definition (jemanden, etwas) polizeilich suchen (zwecks Verhaftung oder Beschlagnahme) Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Fahrt

Where the eye mixes fahnden and Fahrten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fahnden and Fahrten 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
Fahrten

Visual trap between fahnden and Fahrten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fahnden is [ˈfaːndn̩] while Fahrten is [ˈfaːɐ̯tən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58007, 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]. Fahrten is at rank #8,360, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːɐ̯tən].

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 58007, this pair ranks #879,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fahnden vs Fahrten

Shared letters: aefhn. Private to "fahnden": d. Private to "Fahrten": rt.

"fahnden" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Fahrten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fahndenafhnden · fahdnen · fahhnden · fahndden · fahndenn · fahndne · fahnedn · fahnnden
  • Fahrtenafhrten · fahhrten · fahretn · fahrrten · fahrtenn · fahrtne · fahrtten · fahtren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fahnden" for "Fahrten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fahnden" is a verb and "Fahrten" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "fahnden" vs "Fahrten" - which ranks higher?
"Fahrten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,360 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.

After this comparison

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 "Fahrten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #879,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fahnden" and "Fahrten" 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 #879,260 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