Which to use
“feiner” is an adjective and “ferner” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,426
- “feiner” frequency rank
- #3,185
- “ferner” frequency rank
- 14611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feiner | ferner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs fein | über das zuvor Gesagte hinaus |
Where the eye mixes feiner and ferner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses feiner with ferner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feiner is [ˈfaɪ̯nɐ] while ferner is [ˈfɛʁnɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “feiner” becomes r in “ferner”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feiner is recorded at frequency rank #11,426, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nɐ]. ferner is at rank #3,185, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈfɛʁnɐ].
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 14611, this pair ranks #1,949,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feiner vs ferner
Shared letters: efnr. Private to "feiner": i. Private to "ferner": -.
"feiner" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "ferner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "feiner" for "ferner" ever safe?
Which is more common, "feiner" or "ferner"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "feiner" and "ferner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "feiner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ferner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,949,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feiner" and "ferner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feiner vs fixer". 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 #1,949,984 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.