Which to use
“fem” is a num and “fey” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,170
- “fem” frequency rank
- #43,868
- “fey” frequency rank
- 87038
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fem | fey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fünf | (aus dem schottischen) todgeweiht |
Letter map: fem vs fey
Shared letters muted; letters that set fem and fey apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. fem (CVC) and fey (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Part-of-speech tell for fem / fey
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fem is anum and feyanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - m in “fem” becomes y in “fey”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fem is recorded at frequency rank #43,170, classified as anum, pronounced [fɛmˀ]. fey is at rank #43,868, tagged as anadj, pronounced […].
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 87038, this pair ranks #85,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fem vs fey
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fem": m. Private to "fey": y.
"fem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fem" for "fey" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fem" or "fey"?
After this comparison
You've compared "fem" and "fey". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "fem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #85,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fem" and "fey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fey vs puzzles". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #85,535 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.