FeindevsfeinesTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#3,729
“Feinde” frequency rank
#11,051
“feines” frequency rank
14780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feinde feines
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Feind Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fein

Where the eye mixes Feinde and feines

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Feinde
6 ch
feines

Look-alike desk: Feinde vs feines

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feinde is [ˈfaɪ̯ndə] while feines is [ˈfaɪ̯nəs]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Feinde is recorded at frequency rank #3,729, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ndə]. 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 14780, this pair ranks #1,948,808 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Feinde vs feines

Shared letters: efin. Private to "Feinde": d. Private to "feines": s.

"Feinde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "feines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Feindeefinde · feidne · feindde · feined · feinnde · fenide · ffeinde · fiende
  • feinesefines · feiens · feiness · feinnes · feinse · fenies · ffeines · fienes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Feinde" and "feines" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Feinde" is a noun and "feines" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Feinde" vs "feines" - which ranks higher?
"Feinde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,729 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Feinde" 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 #1,948,808 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feinde" 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 #1,948,808 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