falsevsfassteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: false is a adjective, fasste is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“false” is an adjective and “fasste” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,516
“false” frequency rank
#10,278
“fasste” frequency rank
33794
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature false fasste
Definition falsch 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fassen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set false and fasste apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
false
6 ch
fasste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: false is [fɔːls] while fasste is [ˈfastə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33794, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

false is recorded at frequency rank #23,516, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɔːls]. fasste is at rank #10,278, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfastə].

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 33794, this pair ranks #1,677,991 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of false vs fasste

Shared letters: aefs. Private to "false": l. Private to "fasste": t.

"false" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fasste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • falseaflse · falsse · fasle · ffalse · flase
  • fassteafsste · fasset · fasstte · faste · fastse · faßte · ffasste · fsaste

Frequency comparison

false#23,516
fasste#10,278

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "false" and "fasste" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "false" is an adjective and "fasste" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "false" or "fasste"?
"fasste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,278 in our German list, against #23,516 for "false". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering false vs fasste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “false”; for a verb, it's “fasste”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “false” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list