fünftvsfünfteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,828
“fünft” frequency rank
#6,062
“fünfte” frequency rank
47890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fünft fünfte
Definition mit mit einer Gruppe aus fünf Individuen etwas machen nach dem beziehungsweise der vierten kommend; dem, der beziehungsweise des sechsten vorausgehend

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
fünft
6 ch
fünfte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fünft ([fʏnft]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “fünft” sits inside “fünfte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fünft is recorded at frequency rank #41,828, classified as anum, pronounced [fʏnft]. 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 47890, this pair ranks #1,268,324 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fünft vs fünfte

Shared letters: fntü. Private to "fünft": -. Private to "fünfte": e.

"fünft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "fünfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fünft" and "fünfte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fʏnft] versus [ˈfʏnftə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fünft" or "fünfte"?
"fünfte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,062 in our German list, against #41,828 for "fünft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list