Which to use
“fehlerhaft” and “fehlerhaften” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,236
- “fehlerhaft” frequency rank
- #30,553
- “fehlerhaften” frequency rank
- 48789
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehlerhaft | fehlerhaften |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit Fehlern; nicht ohne Fehler oder Mängel | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fehlerhaft |
Where the eye mixes fehlerhaft and fehlerhaften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. fehlerhaft runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCC) against fehlerhaften's 12 (CVCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fehlerhaft vs fehlerhaften
A purely visual mix-up. fehlerhaft ([ˈfeːlɐhaft]) and fehlerhaften ([ˈfeːlɐhaftn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fehlerhaft” sits inside “fehlerhaften”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fehlerhaft is recorded at frequency rank #18,236, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeːlɐhaft]. fehlerhaften is at rank #30,553, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeːlɐhaftn̩].
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 48789, this pair ranks #1,235,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fehlerhaft vs fehlerhaften
Shared letters: aefhlrt. Private to "fehlerhaft": -. Private to "fehlerhaften": n.
"fehlerhaft" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "fehlerhaften" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fehlerhaft ← efhlerhaft · fehelrhaft · fehhlerhaft · fehlehraft · fehlerahft · fehlerhafft · fehlerhaftt · fehlerhatf
- fehlerhaften ← efhlerhaften · fehelrhaften · fehhlerhaften · fehlehraften · fehlerahften · fehlerhafetn · fehlerhafften · fehlerhaftenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fehlerhaft" for "fehlerhaften" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fehlerhaft" vs "fehlerhaften" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlerhaft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlerhaften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,235,593 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehlerhaft" and "fehlerhaften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fehlerhafte vs fehlerhaften". 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 #1,235,593 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.