Which to use
“fünf” and “fünfte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #442
- “fünf” frequency rank
- #6,062
- “fünfte” frequency rank
- 6504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fünf | fünfte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fünf, die Kardinalzahl zwischen vier und sechs | nach dem beziehungsweise der vierten kommend; dem, der beziehungsweise des sechsten vorausgehend |
Where the eye mixes fünf and fünfte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fünf vs fünfte
A purely visual mix-up. fünf ([fʏnf]) and fünfte ([ˈfʏnftə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “fünf” sits inside “fünfte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fünf is recorded at frequency rank #442, classified as anum, pronounced [fʏnf]. fünfte is at rank #6,062, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈfʏnftə].
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 6504, this pair ranks #1,991,418 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fünf vs fünfte
Shared letters: fnü. Private to "fünf": -. Private to "fünfte": et.
"fünf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fünfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fünf" and "fünfte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "fünf" or "fünfte" 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 "fünf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fünfte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,418 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fünf" and "fünfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fünfte vs funzt". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,991,418 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.