fegenvsfeverWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#33,040
“fegen” frequency rank
#38,100
“fever” frequency rank
71140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fegen fever
Definition mit einem Besen entfernen Fieber

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fegen and fever apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fegen
5 ch
fever

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fegen is [ˈfeːɡn̩] while fever is [ˈfiːvə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 71140, 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]. fever is at rank #38,100, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfiːvə].

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 71140, this pair ranks #425,484 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fegen vs fever

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fegen": gn. Private to "fever": rv.

"fegen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fever" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fegenefgen · feegn · fegenn · feggen · fegne · ffegen · fgeen
  • feverefver · feevr · feverr · fevre · fevver · ffever · fveer

Frequency comparison

fegen#33,040
fever#38,100

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fegen" and "fever" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fegen" is a verb and "fever" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fegen" or "fever"?
"fegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,040 in our German list, against #38,100 for "fever". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fegen vs fever

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 “fever”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list