feinemvsfestemTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,720
“feinem” frequency rank
#27,721
“festem” frequency rank
55441
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feinem festem
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fein Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fest

Where the eye mixes feinem and festem

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

6 ch
feinem
6 ch
festem

Visual trap between feinem and festem

A purely visual mix-up. feinem ([ˈfaɪ̯nəm]) and festem ([ˈfɛstəm]) 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 55441, 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]. festem is at rank #27,721, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛstəm].

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 55441, this pair ranks #979,428 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feinem vs festem

Shared letters: efm. Private to "feinem": in. Private to "festem": st.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feinemefinem · feienm · feinemm · feinme · feinnem · feniem · ffeinem · fienem
  • festemefstem · fesetm · fesstem · festemm · festme · festtem · fetsem · ffestem

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "feinem" for "festem" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯nəm] versus [ˈfɛstəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feinem" or "festem"?
"feinem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,720 in our German list, against #27,721 for "festem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feinem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "festem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #979,428 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feinem" and "festem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fessel vs festem". 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 #979,428 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