farvsFDPTell them apart

Quick tell: far is a noun, FDP is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#16,418
“far” frequency rank
#1,414
“FDP” frequency rank
17832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature far FDP
Definition Vater Kurzbezeichnung der Freien Demokratischen Partei der BRD bis 1968 und seit 2001, dazwischen F.D.P.

Where the eye mixes far and FDP

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
far
3 ch
FDP

Why the eye confuses far with FDP

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: far is [faː] while FDP is [ɛfdeːˈpeː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17832, 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]. FDP is at rank #1,414, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ɛfdeːˈpeː].

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 17832, this pair ranks #1,923,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of far vs FDP

Shared letters: f. Private to "far": ar. Private to "FDP": dp.

"far" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "FDP" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "far" for "FDP" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "far" is a noun and "FDP" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "far" vs "FDP" - which ranks higher?
"FDP" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,414 in our German list, against #16,418 for "far". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "far" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "FDP" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,923,857 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "far" and "FDP" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "far vs firm". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,923,857 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