Which to use
“fünftel” is an adjective and “fünfter” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,551
- “fünftel” frequency rank
- #15,631
- “fünfter” frequency rank
- 34182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fünftel | fünfter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aus einem von fünf gleich großen Teilen bestehend | unbestimmte männliche Deklination von fünfte |
Where the eye mixes fünftel and fünfter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fünftel and fünfter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: fünftel vs fünfter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fünftel is [ˈfʏnftl̩] while fünfter is [ˈfʏnftɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “fünftel” becomes r in “fünfter”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fünftel is recorded at frequency rank #18,551, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʏnftl̩]. fünfter is at rank #15,631, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈfʏnftɐ].
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 34182, this pair ranks #1,669,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fünftel vs fünfter
Shared letters: efntü. Private to "fünftel": l. Private to "fünfter": r.
"fünftel" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "fünfter" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fünftel" and "fünfter" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "fünftel" or "fünfter" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fünftel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fünfter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,669,229 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fünftel" and "fünfter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fünft vs fünftel". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,669,229 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.