Which to use
“flechten” and “fürchten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,719
- “flechten” frequency rank
- #5,172
- “fürchten” frequency rank
- 29891
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flechten | fürchten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (meist) drei Stränge (zum Beispiel Haare oder Bänder) miteinander verschlingen | etwas fürchten: vor etwas Angst (Furcht) haben |
Where the eye mixes flechten and fürchten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. flechten (CCVCCCVC) and fürchten (CVCCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between flechten and fürchten
A purely visual mix-up. flechten ([ˈflɛçtn̩]) and fürchten ([ˈfʏʁçtn̩]) 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 29891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flechten is recorded at frequency rank #24,719, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈflɛçtn̩]. fürchten is at rank #5,172, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏʁçtn̩].
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 29891, this pair ranks #1,758,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of flechten vs fürchten
Shared letters: cefhnt. Private to "flechten": l. Private to "fürchten": rü.
"flechten" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC · "fürchten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- flechten ← felchten · fflechten · flcehten · flecchten · flechetn · flechhten · flechtenn · flechtne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "flechten" and "fürchten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "flechten" or "fürchten" 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 "flechten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fürchten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,758,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flechten" and "fürchten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flechten vs flehen". 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 #1,758,305 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.