fängtvsfastConfusable pair

Quick tell: fängt is a verb, fast is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fängt” is a verb and “fast” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,037
“fängt” frequency rank
#243
“fast” frequency rank
3280
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fängt fast
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fangen nicht ganz

Where the eye mixes fängt and fast

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
fängt
4 ch
fast

Visual trap between fängt and fast

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fängt is [fɛŋt] while fast is [fast]. 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 (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fängt is recorded at frequency rank #3,037, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛŋt]. fast is at rank #243, tagged as anadv, pronounced [fast].

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 3280, this pair ranks #2,000,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fängt vs fast

Shared letters: ft. Private to "fängt": gnä. Private to "fast": as.

"fängt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "fast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fastafst · fastt · fats · ffast · fsat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fängt" and "fast" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fängt" is a verb and "fast" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "fängt" vs "fast" - which ranks higher?
"fast" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #243 in our German list, against #3,037 for "fängt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fängt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fast" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fängt" and "fast" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fast vs fist". 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 #2,000,545 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