Which to use
“fiesen” is an adjective and “fingen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,190
- “fiesen” frequency rank
- #18,242
- “fingen” frequency rank
- 46432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fiesen | fingen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fies | 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs fangen |
Where the eye mixes fiesen and fingen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fiesen (CVVCVC) and fingen (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between fiesen and fingen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fiesen is [ˈfiːzn̩] while fingen is [ˈfɪŋən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fiesen is recorded at frequency rank #28,190, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfiːzn̩]. fingen is at rank #18,242, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪŋən].
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 46432, this pair ranks #1,319,301 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fiesen vs fingen
Shared letters: efin. Private to "fiesen": s. Private to "fingen": g.
"fiesen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "fingen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fiesen" and "fingen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "fiesen" or "fingen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fiesen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fingen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,319,301 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fiesen" and "fingen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fiesen vs Friese". 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 #1,319,301 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.