FassvsfassteTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#7,605
“Fass” frequency rank
#10,278
“fasste” frequency rank
17883
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fass fasste
Definition ein Behälter aus Holz, Metall, Plastik zur Aufbewahrung und zum Transport von flüssigen Gütern, Schüttgütern und Ähnlichem 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fassen

Where the eye mixes Fass and fasste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Fass runs 4 letters (CVCC) against fasste's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Fass
6 ch
fasste

Look-alike desk: Fass vs fasste

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fass is [fas] while fasste is [ˈfastə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Fass” sits inside “fasste”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fass is recorded at frequency rank #7,605, classified as anoun, pronounced [fas]. fasste is at rank #10,278, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfastə].

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 17883, this pair ranks #1,923,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fass vs fasste

Shared letters: afs. Private to "Fass": -. Private to "fasste": et.

"Fass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fasste" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fass ← afss · faß · ffass · fsas
  • fasste ← afsste · fasset · fasstte · faste · fastse · faßte · ffasste · fsaste

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Fass" and "fasste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fass" is a noun and "fasste" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Fass" vs "fasste" - which ranks higher?
"Fass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,605 in our German list, against #10,278 for "fasste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fasste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,923,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fass" and "fasste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fass 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 #1,923,385 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