fragtenvsFransenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#15,090
“fragten” frequency rank
#45,280
“Fransen” frequency rank
60370
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fragten Fransen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fragen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Franse

Where the eye mixes fragten and Fransen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fragten and Fransen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
fragten
7 ch
Fransen

Why the eye confuses fragten with Fransen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fragten is [ˈfʁaːktn̩] while Fransen is [ˈfʁanzn̩]. 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 60370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fragten is recorded at frequency rank #15,090, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁaːktn̩]. Fransen is at rank #45,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁanzn̩].

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 60370, this pair ranks #789,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fragten vs Fransen

Shared letters: aefnr. Private to "fragten": gt. Private to "Fransen": s.

"fragten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "Fransen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fragten ← fargten · ffragten · fragetn · fraggten · fragtenn · fragtne · fragtten · fratgen
  • Fransen ← farnsen · ffransen · franesn · frannsen · fransenn · fransne · franssen · frasnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fragten" for "Fransen" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fragten" is a verb and "Fransen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fragten" or "Fransen"?
"fragten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,090 in our German list, against #45,280 for "Fransen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fragten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fransen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #789,569 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fragten" and "Fransen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "frans vs Fransen". 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 #789,569 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