FeenvsFeigenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#30,551
“Feen” frequency rank
#23,121
“Feigen” frequency rank
53672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feen Feigen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Fee Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Feige

Where the eye mixes Feen and Feigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Feen
6 ch
Feigen

Visual trap between Feen and Feigen

A purely visual mix-up. Feen ([ˈfeːən]) and Feigen ([ˈfaɪ̯ɡn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Feen is recorded at frequency rank #30,551, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːən]. Feigen is at rank #23,121, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɡn̩].

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 53672, this pair ranks #1,048,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Feen vs Feigen

Shared letters: efn. Private to "Feen": -. Private to "Feigen": gi.

"Feen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Feigen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Feenefen · feenn · fene · ffeen
  • Feigenefigen · fegien · feiegn · feigenn · feiggen · feigne · ffeigen · fiegen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Feen" for "Feigen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfeːən] versus [ˈfaɪ̯ɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Feen" or "Feigen" show up more?
"Feigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,121 in our German list, against #30,551 for "Feen". 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 "Feen" and "Feigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Feen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Feigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,048,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feen" and "Feigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feels vs Feen". 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 #1,048,910 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