feinevsflinkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,261
“feine” frequency rank
#33,588
“flink” frequency rank
38849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feine flink
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs fein schnell und behände; flott

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feine and flink apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
feine
5 ch
flink

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. feine ([ˈfaɪ̯nə]) and flink ([flɪŋk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feine is recorded at frequency rank #5,261, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nə]. flink is at rank #33,588, tagged as anadj, pronounced [flɪŋk].

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 38849, this pair ranks #1,553,008 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feine vs flink

Shared letters: fin. Private to "feine": e. Private to "flink": kl.

"feine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "flink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feineefine · feien · feinne · fenie · ffeine · fiene
  • flinkfflink · filnk · flikn · flinkk · flinnk · fllink · flnik · lfink

Frequency comparison

feine#5,261
flink#33,588

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feine" and "flink" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯nə] versus [flɪŋk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feine" or "flink"?
"feine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,261 in our German list, against #33,588 for "flink". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feine vs flink

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feine” 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