fastvsfettWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fast is a adverb, fett is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fast” is an adverb and “fett” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#243
“fast” frequency rank
#3,032
“fett” frequency rank
3275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fast fett
Definition nicht ganz dick aufgrund von Fett im Körper

Where the eye mixes fast and fett

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

4 ch
fast
4 ch
fett

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fast is [fast] while fett is [fɛt]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fast is recorded at frequency rank #243, classified as anadv, pronounced [fast]. fett is at rank #3,032, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛt].

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 3275, this pair ranks #2,000,558 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fast vs fett

Shared letters: ft. Private to "fast": as. Private to "fett": e.

"fast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fett" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fastafst · fastt · fats · ffast · fsat
  • fetteftt · fet · ffett · ftet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fast" and "fett" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fast" is an adverb and "fett" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fast" or "fett"?
"fast" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #243 in our German list, against #3,032 for "fett". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "fast" and "fett". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fast" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fett" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,558 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fast" and "fett" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fett 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list