FaservsfosterConfusable pair

Quick tell: Faser is a noun, foster is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,287
“Faser” frequency rank
#18,247
“foster” frequency rank
45534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Faser foster
Definition Faden aus Gewebe nähren, pflegen, aufziehen

Where the eye mixes Faser and foster

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

5 ch
Faser
6 ch
foster

Visual trap between Faser and foster

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Faser is [ˈfaːzɐ] while foster is [fɒstə(r)]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Faser is recorded at frequency rank #27,287, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːzɐ]. foster is at rank #18,247, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɒstə(r)].

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 45534, this pair ranks #1,349,761 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Faser vs foster

Shared letters: efrs. Private to "Faser": a. Private to "foster": ot.

"Faser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "foster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Faserafser · faesr · faserr · fasre · fasser · ffaser · fsaer
  • fosterffoster · fosetr · fosster · fosterr · fostre · fostter · fotser · fsoter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Faser" and "foster" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Faser" is a noun and "foster" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Faser" or "foster"?
"foster" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,247 in our German list, against #27,287 for "Faser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Faser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "foster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,349,761 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Faser" and "foster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Färber vs Faser". 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 #1,349,761 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