FolgevsfolgenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Folge is a noun, folgen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Folge” is a noun and “folgen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#487
“Folge” frequency rank
#566
“folgen” frequency rank
1053
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Folge folgen
Definition Ergebnis oder Wirkung einer Handlung oder eines Geschehens jemandem oder etwas hinterhergehen oder auch hinterherfahren

Where the eye mixes Folge and folgen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Folge
6 ch
folgen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Folge is [ˈfɔlɡə] while folgen is [ˈfɔlɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Folge” sits inside “folgen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Folge is recorded at frequency rank #487, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡə]. folgen is at rank #566, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔlɡn̩].

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 1053, this pair ranks #2,004,978 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Folge vs folgen

Shared letters: efglo. Private to "Folge": -. Private to "folgen": n.

"Folge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "folgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Folgeffolge · floge · fogle · foleg · folgge · follge · oflge
  • folgenffolgen · foglen · folegn · folgenn · folggen · folgne · follgen · oflgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Folge" and "folgen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Folge" is a noun and "folgen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Folge" or "folgen"?
"Folge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #487 in our German list, against #566 for "folgen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Folge" and "folgen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Folge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "folgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,004,978 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Folge" and "folgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Felge vs folgen". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list