Which to use
“flattern” and “füttern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,044
- “flattern” frequency rank
- #11,238
- “füttern” frequency rank
- 42282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flattern | füttern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich schnell hin und her (beziehungsweise auf und ab) bewegen | einem Tier Nahrung geben |
Where the eye mixes flattern and füttern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between flattern and füttern
A purely visual mix-up. flattern ([ˈflatɐn]) and füttern ([ˈfʏtɐn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flattern is recorded at frequency rank #31,044, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈflatɐn]. füttern is at rank #11,238, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏtɐn].
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 42282, this pair ranks #1,454,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flattern vs füttern
Shared letters: efnrt. Private to "flattern": al. Private to "füttern": ü.
"flattern" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "füttern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- flattern ← falttern · fflattern · flatern · flatetrn · flattenr · flatternn · flatterrn · flattren
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "flattern" and "füttern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "flattern" or "füttern" show up more?
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 "flattern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "füttern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,454,199 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flattern" and "füttern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flattern vs flattert". 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 #1,454,199 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.