Which to use
“furchtbar” and “furchtbaren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,484
- “furchtbar” frequency rank
- #20,259
- “furchtbaren” frequency rank
- 25743
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | furchtbar | furchtbaren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in starken Ausmaße negativ oder Entsetzen, Furcht hervorrufend | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs furchtbar |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set furchtbar and furchtbaren apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. furchtbar ([ˈfʊʁçtbaːɐ̯]) and furchtbaren ([ˈfʊʁçtbaːʁən]) 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) - “furchtbar” sits inside “furchtbaren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
furchtbar is recorded at frequency rank #5,484, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʊʁçtbaːɐ̯]. furchtbaren is at rank #20,259, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʊʁçtbaːʁən].
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 25743, this pair ranks #1,828,641 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of furchtbar vs furchtbaren
Shared letters: abcfhrtu. Private to "furchtbar": -. Private to "furchtbaren": en.
"furchtbar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCCVC · "furchtbaren" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- furchtbar ← ffurchtbar · fucrhtbar · furcchtbar · furchbtar · furchhtbar · furchtabr · furchtbarr · furchtbbar
- furchtbaren ← ffurchtbaren · fucrhtbaren · furcchtbaren · furchbtaren · furchhtbaren · furchtabren · furchtbaern · furchtbarenn
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "furchtbar" and "furchtbaren" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "furchtbar" or "furchtbaren"?
Remembering furchtbar vs furchtbaren
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 “furchtbar” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable