ferryvsfeyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ferry is a noun, fey is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#49,668
“ferry” frequency rank
#43,868
“fey” frequency rank
93536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ferry fey
Definition ein Boot oder Schiff zum regelmäßigen Transport von Passagieren und Gütern über kürzere Strecken (aus dem schottischen) todgeweiht

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ferry and fey apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ferry
3 ch
fey

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ferry is anoun and feyanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ferry is recorded at frequency rank #49,668, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛri]. 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 93536, this pair ranks #22,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ferry vs fey

Shared letters: efy. Private to "ferry": r. Private to "fey": -.

"ferry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fey" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ferryefrry · ferryy · feryr · fferry · frery

Frequency comparison

ferry#49,668
fey#43,868

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ferry" and "fey" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ferry" is a noun and "fey" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ferry" or "fey"?
"fey" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,868 in our German list, against #49,668 for "ferry". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ferry vs fey

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ferry”; for an adjective, it's “fey”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ferry” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list