fälligvsfarbigTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,057
“fällig” frequency rank
#20,245
“farbig” frequency rank
28302
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fällig farbig
Definition innerhalb der Erfüllungsfrist befindlich mit einer oder mehreren Farben versehen; nicht schwarz, weiß oder grau

Where the eye mixes fällig and farbig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
fällig
6 ch
farbig

Visual trap between fällig and farbig

A purely visual mix-up. fällig ([ˈfɛlɪç]) and farbig ([ˈfaʁbɪç]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28302, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fällig is recorded at frequency rank #8,057, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛlɪç]. farbig is at rank #20,245, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaʁbɪç].

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 28302, this pair ranks #1,787,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fällig vs farbig

Shared letters: fgi. Private to "fällig": . Private to "farbig": abr.

"fällig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "farbig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • farbigafrbig · fabrig · farbbig · farbgi · farbigg · faribg · farrbig · ffarbig

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fällig" for "farbig" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛlɪç] versus [ˈfaʁbɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fällig" or "farbig"?
"fällig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,057 in our German list, against #20,245 for "farbig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "fällig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "farbig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,787,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fällig" and "farbig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Färber vs farbig". 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 #1,787,187 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