Which to use
“feines” is an adjective and “ferner” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,051
- “feines” frequency rank
- #3,185
- “ferner” frequency rank
- 14236
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feines | ferner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fein | über das zuvor Gesagte hinaus |
Where the eye mixes feines and ferner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between feines and ferner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feines is [ˈfaɪ̯nəs] while ferner is [ˈfɛʁnɐ]. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feines is recorded at frequency rank #11,051, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nəs]. 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 14236, this pair ranks #1,952,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feines vs ferner
Shared letters: efn. Private to "feines": is. Private to "ferner": r.
"feines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "ferner" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "feines" and "ferner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "feines" vs "ferner" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "feines" 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 #1,952,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feines" and "ferner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Färber vs ferner". 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 #1,952,632 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.