fändevsfindenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,197
“fände” frequency rank
#228
“finden” frequency rank
9425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fände finden
Definition 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs finden etwas oder jemanden durch Suchen oder durch Zufall entdecken, sehen

Where the eye mixes fände and finden

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

5 ch
fände
6 ch
finden

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fände ([ˈfɛndə]) and finden ([ˈfɪndn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fände is recorded at frequency rank #9,197, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɛndə]. finden is at rank #228, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪndn̩].

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 9425, this pair ranks #1,979,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fände vs finden

Shared letters: defn. Private to "fände": ä. Private to "finden": i.

"fände" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "finden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • findenffinden · fidnen · findden · findenn · findne · finedn · finnden · fniden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fände" and "finden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛndə] versus [ˈfɪndn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fände" or "finden"?
"finden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #228 in our German list, against #9,197 for "fände". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "fände" and "finden". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fände" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "finden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,979,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fände" and "finden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fahnden vs fände". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list