fünftvsfunktTell them apart

Quick tell: fünft is a num, funkt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fünft” is a num and “funkt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,828
“fünft” frequency rank
#45,288
“funkt” frequency rank
87116
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fünft funkt
Definition mit mit einer Gruppe aus fünf Individuen etwas machen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs funken

Where the eye mixes fünft and funkt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fünft and funkt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
fünft
5 ch
funkt

Visual trap between fünft and funkt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fünft is [fʏnft] while funkt is [fʊŋkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87116, 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]. funkt is at rank #45,288, tagged as averb, pronounced [fʊŋkt].

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 87116, this pair ranks #84,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fünft vs funkt

Shared letters: fnt. Private to "fünft": ü. Private to "funkt": ku.

"fünft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "funkt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • funkt ← ffunkt · fnukt · fuknt · funkkt · funktt · funnkt · funtk · ufnkt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fünft" for "funkt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fünft" is a num and "funkt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fünft" or "funkt"?
"fünft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,828 in our German list, against #45,288 for "funkt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fünft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "funkt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #84,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fünft" and "funkt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "funkt vs funzt". 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 #84,568 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