Which to use
“führen” is a verb and “Führern” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #634
- “führen” frequency rank
- #36,941
- “Führern” frequency rank
- 37575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | führen | Führern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in eine Richtung geleiten, zum Beispiel, indem man nahe neben jemandem geht oder ihn sogar dabei berührt und ihm hilft einen Weg zu finden, den er sonst schwer hätte zu finden | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Führer |
Where the eye mixes führen and Führern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses führen with Führern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: führen is [ˈfyːʁən] while Führern is [ˈfyːʁɐn]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
führen is recorded at frequency rank #634, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːʁən]. Führern is at rank #36,941, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfyːʁɐn].
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 37575, this pair ranks #1,586,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of führen vs Führern
Shared letters: efhnrü. Private to "führen": -. Private to "Führern": -.
"führen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Führern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "führen" and "Führern" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "führen" or "Führern" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "führen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Führern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,586,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "führen" and "Führern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Führerin vs Führern". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,586,612 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.