faltenvsfügtenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,852
“falten” frequency rank
#45,292
“fügten” frequency rank
56144
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature falten fügten
Definition umbiegen und zusammenlegen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fügen

Where the eye mixes falten and fügten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
falten
6 ch
fügten

Why the eye confuses falten with fügten

A purely visual mix-up. falten ([ˈfaltn̩]) and fügten ([ˈfyːktn̩]) 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 56144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

falten is recorded at frequency rank #10,852, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfaltn̩]. fügten is at rank #45,292, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːktn̩].

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 56144, this pair ranks #951,751 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of falten vs fügten

Shared letters: efnt. Private to "falten": al. Private to "fügten": .

"falten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fügten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faltenaflten · faletn · fallten · faltenn · faltne · faltten · fatlen · ffalten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "falten" and "fügten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaltn̩] versus [ˈfyːktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "falten" or "fügten"?
"falten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,852 in our German list, against #45,292 for "fügten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "falten" and "fügten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "falten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fügten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #951,751 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "falten" and "fügten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fegen vs fügten". 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 #951,751 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