Which to use
“fear” is a noun and “für” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,122
- “fear” frequency rank
- #16
- “für” frequency rank
- 29138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fear | für |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (die Emotion) Furcht | etwas oder jemand ist an etwas jemanden gerichtet, bestimmt, zugeordnet |
Where the eye mixes fear and für
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fear with für
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fear is [fɪə] while für is [fyːɐ̯]. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fear is recorded at frequency rank #29,122, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɪə]. für is at rank #16, tagged as aprep, pronounced [fyːɐ̯].
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 29138, this pair ranks #1,772,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fear vs für
Shared letters: fr. Private to "fear": ae. Private to "für": ü.
"fear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "für" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fear ← efar · faer · fearr · fera · ffear
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fear" for "für" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fear" vs "für" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "für" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,772,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fear" and "für" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fear vs ferry". 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 #1,772,310 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.