FässervsfusseConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#24,728
“Fässer” frequency rank
#12,916
“fusse” frequency rank
37644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fässer fusse
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Fass 1. Person Singular Subjunktiv Imperfekt Aktiv des Verbs être

Where the eye mixes Fässer and fusse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Fässer runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fusse's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Fässer
5 ch
fusse

Why the eye confuses Fässer with fusse

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fässer is [ˈfɛsɐ] while fusse is [fys]. 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 37644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fässer is recorded at frequency rank #24,728, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛsɐ]. fusse is at rank #12,916, tagged as averb, pronounced [fys].

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 37644, this pair ranks #1,584,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fässer vs fusse

Shared letters: efs. Private to "Fässer": rä. Private to "fusse": u.

"Fässer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fusse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fusse ← ffusse · fsuse · fuse · fuses · fuße · ufsse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Fässer" for "fusse" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fässer" is a noun and "fusse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Fässer" or "fusse" show up more?
"fusse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,916 in our German list, against #24,728 for "Fässer". 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 "Fässer" and "fusse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fässer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fusse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,584,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fässer" and "fusse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Färber vs Fässer". 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 #1,584,778 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