FuchsvsFüchseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,704
“Fuchs” frequency rank
#17,295
“Füchse” frequency rank
21999
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fuchs Füchse
Definition Vertreter einer Gruppe von bestimmten kurzbeinigen Arten der Familie der Hunde (Canidae) Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Fuchs

Where the eye mixes Fuchs and Füchse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Fuchs runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against Füchse's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Fuchs
6 ch
Füchse

Visual trap between Fuchs and Füchse

A purely visual mix-up. Fuchs ([fʊks]) and Füchse ([ˈfʏksə]) 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 21999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fuchs is recorded at frequency rank #4,704, classified as anoun, pronounced [fʊks]. Füchse is at rank #17,295, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʏksə].

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 21999, this pair ranks #1,879,575 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fuchs vs Füchse

Shared letters: cfhs. Private to "Fuchs": u. Private to "Füchse": eü.

"Fuchs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Füchse" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fuchs ← fcuhs · ffuchs · fucchs · fuchhs · fuchss · fucsh · fuhcs · ufchs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Fuchs" for "Füchse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fʊks] versus [ˈfʏksə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Fuchs" or "Füchse"?
"Fuchs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,704 in our German list, against #17,295 for "Füchse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Fuchs" and "Füchse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fuchs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Füchse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,879,575 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fuchs" and "Füchse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fachs vs Füchse". 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 #1,879,575 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