feinemvsFernenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: feinem is a adjective, Fernen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,720
“feinem” frequency rank
#12,910
“Fernen” frequency rank
40630
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feinem Fernen
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fein Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ferne

Where the eye mixes feinem and Fernen

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

6 ch
feinem
6 ch
Fernen

Look-alike desk: feinem vs Fernen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feinem is [ˈfaɪ̯nəm] while Fernen is [ˈfɛʁnən]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feinem is recorded at frequency rank #27,720, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nəm]. Fernen is at rank #12,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛʁnən].

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 40630, this pair ranks #1,502,917 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feinem vs Fernen

Shared letters: efn. Private to "feinem": im. Private to "Fernen": r.

"feinem" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Fernen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feinemefinem · feienm · feinemm · feinme · feinnem · feniem · ffeinem · fienem
  • Fernenefrnen · fenren · ferenn · fernenn · fernnen · ferrnen · ffernen · frenen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feinem" and "Fernen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feinem" is an adjective and "Fernen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "feinem" or "Fernen" show up more?
"Fernen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,910 in our German list, against #27,720 for "feinem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "feinem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fernen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,502,917 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feinem" and "Fernen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fernen vs Fernweh". 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 #1,502,917 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