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 |
Letter map: ferry vs fey
Shared letters muted; letters that set ferry and fey apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. ferry runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fey's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - ferry and fey
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
- ferry ← efrry · ferryy · feryr · fferry · frery
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ferry" for "fey" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ferry" or "fey"?
After this comparison
Pair "ferry" vs "fey" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "ferry" 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 #22,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ferry" and "fey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fairy vs ferry". 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 #22,188 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.