far vs färbt, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“far” is a noun and “färbt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,418
“far” frequency rank: #19,916
“färbt” frequency rank: 36334
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	far	färbt
Definition	Vater	2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs färben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set far and färbt apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

far

5 ch

färbt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: far is [faː] while färbt is [fɛʁpt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

far is recorded at frequency rank #16,418, classified as anoun, pronounced [faː]. färbt is at rank #19,916, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛʁpt].

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 36334, this pair ranks #1,618,204 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of far vs färbt

Shared letters: fr. Private to "far": a. Private to "färbt": btä.

"far" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "färbt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequency comparison

far#16,418

färbt#19,916

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "far" and "färbt" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "far" is a noun and "färbt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "far" or "färbt"?

"far" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,418 in our German list, against #19,916 for "färbt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering far vs färbt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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