FersevsfieseWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#35,767
“Ferse” frequency rank
#22,334
“fiese” frequency rank
58101
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ferse fiese
Definition hinterer Teil des Fußes Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fies

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Ferse and fiese apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Ferse
5 ch
fiese

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ferse is [ˈfɛʁzə] while fiese is [ˈfiːzə]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ferse is recorded at frequency rank #35,767, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛʁzə]. fiese is at rank #22,334, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfiːzə].

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 58101, this pair ranks #875,770 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ferse vs fiese

Shared letters: efs. Private to "Ferse": r. Private to "fiese": i.

"Ferse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fiese" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ferseefrse · feres · ferrse · fesre · fferse
  • fiesefeise · ffiese · fiees · fiesse · fisee · ifese

Frequency comparison

Ferse#35,767
fiese#22,334

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ferse" and "fiese" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ferse" is a noun and "fiese" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ferse" or "fiese"?
"fiese" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,334 in our German list, against #35,767 for "Ferse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Ferse vs fiese

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Ferse”; for an adjective, it's “fiese”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Ferse” 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