fickenvsfischenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,716
“ficken” frequency rank
#9,190
“fischen” frequency rank
11906
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ficken fischen
Definition den Geschlechtsakt vollziehen, koitieren Tiere fangen, die im Wasser leben

Where the eye mixes ficken and fischen

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

6 ch
ficken
7 ch
fischen

Look-alike desk: ficken vs fischen

A purely visual mix-up. ficken ([ˈfɪkn̩]) and fischen ([ˈfɪʃn̩]) 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 11906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ficken is recorded at frequency rank #2,716, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪkn̩]. fischen is at rank #9,190, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪʃn̩].

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 11906, this pair ranks #1,967,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ficken vs fischen

Shared letters: cefin. Private to "ficken": k. Private to "fischen": hs.

"ficken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fischen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ficken ← fciken · fficken · ficcken · ficekn · fickenn · fickken · fickne · fikcen
  • fischen ← ffischen · ficshen · fiscchen · fiscehn · fischenn · fischhen · fischne · fishcen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ficken" and "fischen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɪkn̩] versus [ˈfɪʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ficken" or "fischen"?
"ficken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,716 in our German list, against #9,190 for "fischen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ficken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,967,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ficken" and "fischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fischen vs Fröschen". 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 #1,967,283 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