fixevsfixerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,128
“fixe” frequency rank
#48,147
“fixer” frequency rank
73275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fixe fixer
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fix Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs fix

Where the eye mixes fixe and fixer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fixe
5 ch
fixer

Why the eye confuses fixe with fixer

A purely visual mix-up. fixe ([ˈfɪksə]) and fixer ([ˈfɪksɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fixe” sits inside “fixer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fixe is recorded at frequency rank #25,128, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɪksə]. fixer is at rank #48,147, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɪksɐ].

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 73275, this pair ranks #364,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fixe vs fixer

Shared letters: efix. Private to "fixe": -. Private to "fixer": r.

"fixe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fixer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fixeffixe · fiex · fixxe · fxie · ifxe
  • fixerffixer · fiexr · fixerr · fixre · fixxer · fxier · ifxer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fixe" and "fixer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɪksə] versus [ˈfɪksɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "fixe" or "fixer" show up more?
"fixe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,128 in our German list, against #48,147 for "fixer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "fixe" and "fixer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fixe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fixer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #364,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fixe" and "fixer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Filet vs fixer". 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 #364,814 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