FigurvsFuturWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,391
“Figur” frequency rank
#45,946
“Futur” frequency rank
48337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Figur Futur
Definition Körperform, menschliche Gestalt Zeitform des Verbs, die Zukünftiges kennzeichnet

Where the eye mixes Figur and Futur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Figur and Futur follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Figur
5 ch
Futur

Visual trap between Figur and Futur

A purely visual mix-up. Figur ([fiˈɡuːɐ̯]) and Futur ([fuˈtuːɐ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Figur is recorded at frequency rank #2,391, classified as anoun, pronounced [fiˈɡuːɐ̯]. Futur is at rank #45,946, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fuˈtuːɐ̯].

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 48337, this pair ranks #1,252,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Figur vs Futur

Shared letters: fru. Private to "Figur": gi. Private to "Futur": t.

"Figur" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Futur" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Figur ← ffigur · fgiur · figgur · figru · figurr · fiugr · ifgur
  • Futur ← ffutur · ftuur · futru · futtur · futurr · fuutr · uftur

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Figur" and "Futur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fiˈɡuːɐ̯] versus [fuˈtuːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Figur" vs "Futur" - which ranks higher?
"Figur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,391 in our German list, against #45,946 for "Futur". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Figur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Futur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,252,224 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Figur" and "Futur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Futur vs futures". 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 #1,252,224 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