FeenvsfetzenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Feen is a noun, fetzen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Feen” is a noun and “fetzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,551
“Feen” frequency rank
#18,885
“fetzen” frequency rank
49436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feen fetzen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Fee sich sehr heftig streiten

Where the eye mixes Feen and fetzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Feen runs 4 letters (CVVC) against fetzen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Feen
6 ch
fetzen

Visual trap between Feen and fetzen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feen is [ˈfeːən] while fetzen is [ˈfɛt͡sn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49436, 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]. fetzen is at rank #18,885, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɛt͡sn̩].

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 49436, this pair ranks #1,211,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Feen vs fetzen

Shared letters: efn. Private to "Feen": -. Private to "fetzen": tz.

"Feen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "fetzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Feen ← efen · feenn · fene · ffeen
  • fetzen ← eftzen · fetezn · fettzen · fetzenn · fetzne · fetzzen · fezten · ffetzen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Feen" and "fetzen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Feen" is a noun and "fetzen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Feen" or "fetzen"?
"fetzen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,885 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Feen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fetzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,211,591 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feen" and "fetzen" 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 #1,211,591 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