FesttagvsfettigTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#45,266
“Festtag” frequency rank
#43,174
“fettig” frequency rank
88440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Festtag fettig
Definition ein Tag, an welchem aufgrund eines Ereignisses gefeiert wird mit Fett beschmiert, getränkt oder beschichtet

Where the eye mixes Festtag and fettig

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

7 ch
Festtag
6 ch
fettig

Visual trap between Festtag and fettig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Festtag is [ˈfɛstˌtaːk] while fettig is [ˈfɛtɪç]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Festtag is recorded at frequency rank #45,266, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛstˌtaːk]. fettig is at rank #43,174, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɛtɪç].

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 88440, this pair ranks #68,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Festtag vs fettig

Shared letters: efgt. Private to "Festtag": as. Private to "fettig": i.

"Festtag" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "fettig" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Festtag ← efsttag · fessttag · festag · festatg · festtagg · festtga · fetstag · ffesttag
  • fettig ← efttig · fetig · fetitg · fettgi · fettigg · ffettig · ftetig

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Festtag" and "fettig" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Festtag" is a noun and "fettig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Festtag" or "fettig" show up more?
"fettig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,174 in our German list, against #45,266 for "Festtag". 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 "Festtag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fettig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,338 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Festtag" and "fettig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fettig vs fettige". 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 #68,338 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