Which to use
“Fakes” and “Faxen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,380
- “Fakes” frequency rank
- #34,090
- “Faxen” frequency rank
- 81470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fakes | Faxen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Fake | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Faxe |
Where the eye mixes Fakes and Faxen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Fakes and Faxen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Fakes with Faxen
A purely visual mix-up. Fakes ([fɛɪ̯ks]) and Faxen ([ˈfaksn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fakes is recorded at frequency rank #47,380, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɪ̯ks]. Faxen is at rank #34,090, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaksn̩].
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 81470, this pair ranks #175,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Fakes vs Faxen
Shared letters: aef. Private to "Fakes": ks. Private to "Faxen": nx.
"Fakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Faxen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Fakes" for "Faxen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Fakes" vs "Faxen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Fakes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Faxen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #175,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fakes" and "Faxen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fachs vs Fakes". 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 #175,189 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.