FeigevsfeinerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Feige is a noun, feiner is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#11,425
“Feige” frequency rank
#11,426
“feiner” frequency rank
22851
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feige feiner
Definition essbare, süße, fleischige Frucht des Feigenbaums Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs fein

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Feige
6 ch
feiner

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feige is [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə] while feiner is [ˈfaɪ̯nɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Feige is recorded at frequency rank #11,425, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə]. feiner is at rank #11,426, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nɐ].

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 22851, this pair ranks #1,868,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Feige vs feiner

Shared letters: efi. Private to "Feige": g. Private to "feiner": nr.

"Feige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "feiner" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Feigeefige · fegie · feieg · feigge · ffeige · fiege
  • feinerefiner · feinerr · feinner · feinre · fenier · ffeiner · fiener

Frequency comparison

Feige#11,425
feiner#11,426

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Feige" and "feiner" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Feige" is a noun and "feiner" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Feige" or "feiner"?
"Feige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,425 in our German list, against #11,426 for "feiner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Feige vs feiner

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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