FestenvsfreutenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Festen is a noun, freuten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Festen” is a noun and “freuten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,523
“Festen” frequency rank
#28,193
“freuten” frequency rank
31716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Festen freuten
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Fest 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs freuen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Festen and freuten apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Festen
7 ch
freuten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Festen is [ˈfɛstn̩] while freuten is [ˈfʁɔɪ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Festen is recorded at frequency rank #3,523, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛstn̩]. freuten is at rank #28,193, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯tn̩].

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 31716, this pair ranks #1,722,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Festen vs freuten

Shared letters: efnt. Private to "Festen": s. Private to "freuten": ru.

"Festen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "freuten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Festenefsten · fesetn · fessten · festenn · festne · festten · fetsen · ffesten
  • freutenferuten · ffreuten · fretuen · freuetn · freutenn · freutne · freutten · frreuten

Frequency comparison

Festen#3,523
freuten#28,193

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Festen" and "freuten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Festen" is a noun and "freuten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Festen" or "freuten"?
"Festen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,523 in our German list, against #28,193 for "freuten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Festen vs freuten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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