Which to use
“fatal” and “fatalen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,885
- “fatal” frequency rank
- #37,512
- “fatalen” frequency rank
- 55397
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fatal | fatalen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unangenehm, verhängnisvoll, peinlich | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fatal |
Where the eye mixes fatal and fatalen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fatal runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fatalen's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fatal and fatalen
A purely visual mix-up. fatal ([faˈtaːl]) and fatalen ([faˈtaːlən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fatal” sits inside “fatalen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55397, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fatal is recorded at frequency rank #17,885, classified as anadj, pronounced [faˈtaːl]. fatalen is at rank #37,512, tagged as anadj, pronounced [faˈtaːlən].
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 55397, this pair ranks #981,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fatal vs fatalen
Shared letters: aflt. Private to "fatal": -. Private to "fatalen": en.
"fatal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fatalen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fatal" and "fatalen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fatal" vs "fatalen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fatal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fatalen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #981,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fatal" and "fatalen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fäkalien vs fatalen". 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 #981,155 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.