feinvsfeinesConfusable pair

Which to use

“fein” and “feines” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,652
“fein” frequency rank
#11,051
“feines” frequency rank
14703
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fein feines
Definition dünn, feinkörnig, zart Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fein

Where the eye mixes fein and feines

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fein
6 ch
feines

Visual trap between fein and feines

A purely visual mix-up. fein ([faɪ̯n]) and feines ([ˈfaɪ̯nəs]) 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) - “fein” sits inside “feines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fein is recorded at frequency rank #3,652, classified as anadj, pronounced [faɪ̯n]. feines is at rank #11,051, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nəs].

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 14703, this pair ranks #1,949,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fein vs feines

Shared letters: efin. Private to "fein": -. Private to "feines": s.

"fein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "feines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feinefin · feinn · feni · ffein · fien
  • feinesefines · feiens · feiness · feinnes · feinse · fenies · ffeines · fienes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fein" for "feines" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([faɪ̯n] versus [ˈfaɪ̯nəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fein" vs "feines" - which ranks higher?
"fein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,652 in our German list, against #11,051 for "feines". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "fein" and "feines" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "feines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,949,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fein" and "feines" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feines vs frings". 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 #1,949,351 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list