FassvsfistTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#7,605
“Fass” frequency rank
#49,674
“fist” frequency rank
57279
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fass fist
Definition ein Behälter aus Holz, Metall, Plastik zur Aufbewahrung und zum Transport von flüssigen Gütern, Schüttgütern und Ähnlichem 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fisten

Where the eye mixes Fass and fist

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Fass
4 ch
fist

Look-alike desk: Fass vs fist

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fass is [fas] while fist is [fɪst]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57279, 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]. fist is at rank #49,674, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɪst].

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 57279, this pair ranks #907,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fass vs fist

Shared letters: fs. Private to "Fass": a. Private to "fist": it.

"Fass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fist" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fassafss · faß · ffass · fsas
  • fistffist · fisst · fistt · fits · fsit · ifst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fass" and "fist" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fass" is a noun and "fist" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Fass" or "fist" show up more?
"Fass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,605 in our German list, against #49,674 for "fist". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #907,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fass" and "fist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "firm 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 #907,482 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