fatalevsfatalenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“fatale” and “fatalen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,712
“fatale” frequency rank
#37,512
“fatalen” frequency rank
62224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fatale fatalen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fatal Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fatal

Where the eye mixes fatale and fatalen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fatale runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against fatalen's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fatale
7 ch
fatalen

Visual trap between fatale and fatalen

A purely visual mix-up. fatale ([faˈtaːlə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “fatale” sits inside “fatalen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fatale is recorded at frequency rank #24,712, classified as anadj, pronounced [faˈtaːlə]. 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 62224, this pair ranks #720,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fatale vs fatalen

Shared letters: aeflt. Private to "fatale": -. Private to "fatalen": n.

"fatale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "fatalen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fatale ← aftale · faatle · fatael · fatalle · fatlae · fattale · ffatale · ftaale
  • fatalen ← aftalen · faatlen · fataeln · fatalenn · fatallen · fatalne · fatlaen · fattalen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fatale" and "fatalen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([faˈtaːlə] versus [faˈtaːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fatale" vs "fatalen" - which ranks higher?
"fatale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,712 in our German list, against #37,512 for "fatalen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "fatale" and "fatalen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fatale" 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 #720,747 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fatale" 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 #720,747 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