Which to use
“firm” is an adjective and “fis” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,672
- “firm” frequency rank
- #26,408
- “fis” frequency rank
- 76080
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | firm | fis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | umfassende Kenntnisse und Erfahrungen auf einem speziellen Gebiet besitzend | 1. Person Singulra Indikativ historisches Perfekt Aktiv des Verbs faire |
Where the eye mixes firm and fis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. firm runs 4 letters (CVCC) against fis's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: firm vs fis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: firm is [fɪʁm] while fis is [fi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
firm is recorded at frequency rank #49,672, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɪʁm]. fis is at rank #26,408, tagged as averb, pronounced [fi].
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 76080, this pair ranks #292,265 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of firm vs fis
Shared letters: fi. Private to "firm": mr. Private to "fis": s.
"firm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- firm ← ffirm · fimr · firmm · firrm · frim · ifrm
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "firm" for "fis" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "firm" or "fis" show up more?
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 "firm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #292,265 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "firm" and "fis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "firm vs fist". 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 #292,265 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.