FurchtvsFürstWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,055
“Furcht” frequency rank
#5,834
“Fürst” frequency rank
13889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Furcht Fürst
Definition Emotion angesichts drohender Gefahr hoher Adliger im Rang zwischen Graf und Herzog

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Furcht and Fürst apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Furcht
5 ch
Fürst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Furcht ([fʊʁçt]) and Fürst ([fʏʁst]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Furcht is recorded at frequency rank #8,055, classified as anoun, pronounced [fʊʁçt]. Fürst is at rank #5,834, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fʏʁst].

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 13889, this pair ranks #1,954,990 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Furcht vs Fürst

Shared letters: frt. Private to "Furcht": chu. Private to "Fürst": .

"Furcht" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "Fürst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Furchtffurcht · fucrht · furccht · furchht · furchtt · furcth · furhct · furrcht

Frequency comparison

Furcht#8,055
Fürst#5,834

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Furcht" and "Fürst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fʊʁçt] versus [fʏʁst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Furcht" or "Fürst"?
"Fürst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,834 in our German list, against #8,055 for "Furcht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Furcht vs Fürst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Furcht” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list