FarbevsFerseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,592
“Farbe” frequency rank
#35,767
“Ferse” frequency rank
37359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Farbe Ferse
Definition ein bestimmter Abschnitt des sichtbaren Lichts im Spektrum der elektromagnetischen Wellen hinterer Teil des Fußes

Where the eye mixes Farbe and Ferse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Farbe
5 ch
Ferse

Why the eye confuses Farbe with Ferse

A purely visual mix-up. Farbe ([ˈfaʁbə]) and Ferse ([ˈfɛʁzə]) 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 37359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Farbe is recorded at frequency rank #1,592, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaʁbə]. Ferse is at rank #35,767, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛʁzə].

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 37359, this pair ranks #1,592,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Farbe vs Ferse

Shared letters: efr. Private to "Farbe": ab. Private to "Ferse": s.

"Farbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Ferse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Farbeafrbe · fabre · farbbe · fareb · farrbe · ffarbe · frabe
  • Ferseefrse · feres · ferrse · fesre · fferse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Farbe" and "Ferse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaʁbə] versus [ˈfɛʁzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Farbe" or "Ferse"?
"Farbe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,592 in our German list, against #35,767 for "Ferse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Farbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ferse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,592,319 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Farbe" and "Ferse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferry vs Ferse". 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 #1,592,319 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