fegenvsFeigeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#33,040
“fegen” frequency rank
#11,425
“Feige” frequency rank
44465
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fegen Feige
Definition mit einem Besen entfernen essbare, süße, fleischige Frucht des Feigenbaums

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fegen and Feige apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fegen
5 ch
Feige

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fegen is [ˈfeːɡn̩] while Feige is [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fegen is recorded at frequency rank #33,040, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːɡn̩]. Feige is at rank #11,425, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə].

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 44465, this pair ranks #1,385,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fegen vs Feige

Shared letters: efg. Private to "fegen": n. Private to "Feige": i.

"fegen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Feige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fegenefgen · feegn · fegenn · feggen · fegne · ffegen · fgeen
  • Feigeefige · fegie · feieg · feigge · ffeige · fiege

Frequency comparison

fegen#33,040
Feige#11,425

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fegen" and "Feige" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fegen" is a verb and "Feige" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fegen" or "Feige"?
"Feige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,425 in our German list, against #33,040 for "fegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fegen vs Feige

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fegen”; for a noun, it's “Feige”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fegen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list