FingervsFünferWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,843
“Finger” frequency rank
#36,942
“Fünfer” frequency rank
38785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Finger Fünfer
Definition ein bewegliches Glied der Hand höherer Primaten etwas mit Größe, Wert, Maß oder Nummer 5

Where the eye mixes Finger and Fünfer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Finger and Fünfer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Finger
6 ch
Fünfer

Look-alike desk: Finger vs Fünfer

A purely visual mix-up. Finger ([ˈfɪŋɐ]) and Fünfer ([ˈfʏnfɐ]) 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 38785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Finger is recorded at frequency rank #1,843, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɪŋɐ]. Fünfer is at rank #36,942, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʏnfɐ].

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 38785, this pair ranks #1,554,667 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Finger vs Fünfer

Shared letters: efnr. Private to "Finger": gi. Private to "Fünfer": ü.

"Finger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Fünfer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Finger ← ffinger · figner · finegr · fingerr · fingger · fingre · finnger · fniger

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Finger" and "Fünfer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɪŋɐ] versus [ˈfʏnfɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Finger" vs "Fünfer" - which ranks higher?
"Finger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,843 in our German list, against #36,942 for "Fünfer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Finger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fünfer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,554,667 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Finger" and "Fünfer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fender vs Fünfer". 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 #1,554,667 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