fügtenvsfünftenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fügten is a verb, fünften is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fügten” is a verb and “fünften” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,292
“fügten” frequency rank
#4,432
“fünften” frequency rank
49724
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fügten fünften
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fügen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum des Numerals fünfte

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fügten and fünften apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
fügten
7 ch
fünften

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fügten is [ˈfyːktn̩] while fünften is [ˈfʏnftn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fügten is recorded at frequency rank #45,292, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːktn̩]. fünften is at rank #4,432, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈfʏnftn̩].

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 49724, this pair ranks #1,200,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fügten vs fünften

Shared letters: efntü. Private to "fügten": g. Private to "fünften": -.

"fügten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fünften" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fügten" and "fünften" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fügten" is a verb and "fünften" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fügten" or "fünften"?
"fünften" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,432 in our German list, against #45,292 for "fügten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list