Which to use
“Feige” is a noun and “fertige” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,425
- “Feige” frequency rank
- #14,062
- “fertige” frequency rank
- 25487
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Feige | fertige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | essbare, süße, fleischige Frucht des Feigenbaums | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fertig |
Where the eye mixes Feige and fertige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Feige runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against fertige's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Feige with fertige
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feige is [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə] while fertige is [ˈfɛʁtɪɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 25487, 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]. fertige is at rank #14,062, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛʁtɪɡə].
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 25487, this pair ranks #1,832,538 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Feige vs fertige
Shared letters: efgi. Private to "Feige": -. Private to "fertige": rt.
"Feige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "fertige" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Feige" and "fertige" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Feige" or "fertige" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Feige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fertige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,832,538 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Feige" and "fertige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fertige vs fettige". 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 #1,832,538 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.