feet vs fem, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“feet” is a noun and “fem” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,651
“feet” frequency rank: #43,170
“fem” frequency rank: 77821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	feet	fem
Definition	Plural des Substantivs foot	fünf

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feet and fem apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

feet

3 ch

fem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feet is [fiːt] while fem is [fɛmˀ]. 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 num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feet is recorded at frequency rank #34,651, classified as anoun, pronounced [fiːt]. fem is at rank #43,170, tagged as anum, pronounced [fɛmˀ].

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 77821, this pair ranks #252,136 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of feet vs fem

Shared letters: ef. Private to "feet": t. Private to "fem": m.

"feet" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fem" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

feet ← efet · feett · ffeet

Frequency comparison

feet#34,651

fem#43,170

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feet" and "fem" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feet" is a noun and "fem" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "feet" or "fem"?

"feet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,651 in our German list, against #43,170 for "fem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feet vs fem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “feet”; for a num, it's “fem”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feet” entry
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