fuhrvsführstTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,202
“fuhr” frequency rank
#32,048
“führst” frequency rank
34250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fuhr führst
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fahren 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs führen

Where the eye mixes fuhr and führst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fuhr runs 4 letters (CVCC) against führst's 6 (CVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
fuhr
6 ch
führst

Look-alike desk: fuhr vs führst

A purely visual mix-up. fuhr ([fuːɐ̯]) and führst ([fyːɐ̯st]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fuhr is recorded at frequency rank #2,202, classified as averb, pronounced [fuːɐ̯]. führst is at rank #32,048, tagged as averb, pronounced [fyːɐ̯st].

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 34250, this pair ranks #1,667,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fuhr vs führst

Shared letters: fhr. Private to "fuhr": u. Private to "führst": stü.

"fuhr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "führst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fuhr ← ffuhr · fhur · fuhhr · fuhrr · furh · ufhr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fuhr" and "führst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fuːɐ̯] versus [fyːɐ̯st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fuhr" vs "führst" - which ranks higher?
"fuhr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,202 in our German list, against #32,048 for "führst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fuhr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "führst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,667,630 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fuhr" and "führst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fehlst vs führst". 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 #1,667,630 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