Which to use
“fegen” and “fingen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,040
- “fegen” frequency rank
- #18,242
- “fingen” frequency rank
- 51282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fegen | fingen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einem Besen entfernen | 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs fangen |
Where the eye mixes fegen and fingen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fegen runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fingen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fegen vs fingen
A purely visual mix-up. fegen ([ˈfeːɡn̩]) and fingen ([ˈfɪŋən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51282, 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]. fingen is at rank #18,242, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪŋən].
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 51282, this pair ranks #1,141,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fegen vs fingen
Shared letters: efgn. Private to "fegen": -. Private to "fingen": i.
"fegen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fingen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fegen" for "fingen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "fegen" or "fingen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fegen" and "fingen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fingen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,141,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fegen" and "fingen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fegen vs Felge". 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 #1,141,454 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.