FersenvsFürstenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Fersen” and “Fürsten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,212
“Fersen” frequency rank
#7,320
“Fürsten” frequency rank
26532
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fersen Fürsten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ferse Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Fürst

Where the eye mixes Fersen and Fürsten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Fersen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Fürsten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Fersen
7 ch
Fürsten

Look-alike desk: Fersen vs Fürsten

A purely visual mix-up. Fersen ([ˈfɛʁzn̩]) and Fürsten ([ˈfʏʁstn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fersen is recorded at frequency rank #19,212, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛʁzn̩]. Fürsten is at rank #7,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʏʁstn̩].

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 26532, this pair ranks #1,816,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fersen vs Fürsten

Shared letters: efnrs. Private to "Fersen": -. Private to "Fürsten": tü.

"Fersen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Fürsten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fersen ← efrsen · feresn · ferrsen · fersenn · fersne · fesren · ffersen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Fersen" for "Fürsten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛʁzn̩] versus [ˈfʏʁstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Fersen" vs "Fürsten" - which ranks higher?
"Fürsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,320 in our German list, against #19,212 for "Fersen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fersen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fürsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,816,574 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fersen" and "Fürsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fersen vs Fessel". 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 #1,816,574 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list