Which to use
“fingen” and “folgen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,242
- “fingen” frequency rank
- #566
- “folgen” frequency rank
- 18808
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fingen | folgen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs fangen | jemandem oder etwas hinterhergehen oder auch hinterherfahren |
Where the eye mixes fingen and folgen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fingen and folgen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between fingen and folgen
A purely visual mix-up. fingen ([ˈfɪŋən]) and folgen ([ˈfɔlɡn̩]) 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 18808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fingen is recorded at frequency rank #18,242, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɪŋən]. folgen is at rank #566, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡn̩].
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 18808, this pair ranks #1,914,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fingen vs folgen
Shared letters: efgn. Private to "fingen": i. Private to "folgen": lo.
"fingen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "folgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fingen" and "folgen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fingen" vs "folgen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fingen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "folgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,914,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fingen" and "folgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fingen vs fingers". 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 #1,914,732 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.