fragenvsfügenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#312
“fragen” frequency rank
#11,056
“fügen” frequency rank
11368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fragen fügen
Definition eine Auskunft erbitten, um eine Auskunft bitten, eine Frage stellen Dinge so aneinandersetzen, miteinander in einen Zusammenhang bringen, dass daraus ein Ganzes wird

Where the eye mixes fragen and fügen

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

6 ch
fragen
5 ch
fügen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fragen ([ˈfʁaːɡn̩]) and fügen ([ˈfyːɡn̩]) 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 11368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fragen is recorded at frequency rank #312, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁaːɡn̩]. fügen is at rank #11,056, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːɡn̩].

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 11368, this pair ranks #1,970,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fragen vs fügen

Shared letters: efgn. Private to "fragen": ar. Private to "fügen": ü.

"fragen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "fügen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fragenfargen · ffragen · fraegn · fragenn · fraggen · fragne · frgaen · frragen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fragen" and "fügen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaːɡn̩] versus [ˈfyːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fragen" or "fügen"?
"fragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #312 in our German list, against #11,056 for "fügen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "fragen" and "fügen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fügen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,970,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fragen" and "fügen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fügen vs Fügung". 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