Which to use
“fassen” and “fassten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,115
- “fassen” frequency rank
- #42,481
- “fassten” frequency rank
- 45596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fassen | fassten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas greifen und festhalten | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fassen |
Where the eye mixes fassen and fassten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fassen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fassten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fassen and fassten
A purely visual mix-up. fassen ([ˈfasn̩]) and fassten ([ˈfastn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fassen is recorded at frequency rank #3,115, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfasn̩]. fassten is at rank #42,481, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfastn̩].
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 45596, this pair ranks #1,347,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fassen vs fassten
Shared letters: aefns. Private to "fassen": -. Private to "fassten": t.
"fassen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fassten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fassen" for "fassten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fassen" or "fassten"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fassen" and "fassten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fassten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,347,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fassen" and "fassten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fässern vs fassten". 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 #1,347,684 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.