fegtvsfernWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fegt is a verb, fern is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fegt” is a verb and “fern” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,482
“fegt” frequency rank
#4,196
“fern” frequency rank
46678
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fegt fern
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fegen weit weg vom bezeichneten Ort

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
fegt
4 ch
fern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fegt is [feːkt] while fern is [fɛʁn]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fegt is recorded at frequency rank #42,482, classified as averb, pronounced [feːkt]. fern is at rank #4,196, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛʁn].

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 46678, this pair ranks #1,310,801 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fegt vs fern

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fegt": gt. Private to "fern": nr.

"fegt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fern" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fegtefgt · feggt · fegtt · fetg · ffegt · fget
  • fernefrn · fenr · fernn · ferrn · ffern · fren

Frequency comparison

fegt#42,482
fern#4,196

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fegt" and "fern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fegt" is a verb and "fern" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fegt" or "fern"?
"fern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,196 in our German list, against #42,482 for "fegt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fegt vs fern

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fegt”; for an adjective, it's “fern”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fegt” 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