forgetvsFormelTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#39,935
“forget” frequency rank
#2,393
“Formel” frequency rank
42328
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature forget Formel
Definition vergessen Buchstabengleichung, Ausdruck zur Berechnung einer Größe

Where the eye mixes forget and Formel

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

6 ch
forget
6 ch
Formel

Visual trap between forget and Formel

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: forget is [fəˈɡɛt] while Formel is [ˈfɔʁml̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

forget is recorded at frequency rank #39,935, classified as averb, pronounced [fəˈɡɛt]. Formel is at rank #2,393, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɔʁml̩].

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 42328, this pair ranks #1,452,765 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of forget vs Formel

Shared letters: efor. Private to "forget": gt. Private to "Formel": lm.

"forget" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Formel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • forgetfforget · fogret · foregt · forgett · forgget · forgte · forrget · froget
  • Formelfformel · fomrel · foreml · formle · formmel · forrmel · fromel · ofrmel

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "forget" and "Formel" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "forget" is a verb and "Formel" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "forget" or "Formel" show up more?
"Formel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,393 in our German list, against #39,935 for "forget". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "forget" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Formel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,452,765 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "forget" and "Formel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forces vs forget". 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 #1,452,765 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