Which to use
“Futter” is a noun and “füttern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,175
- “Futter” frequency rank
- #11,238
- “füttern” frequency rank
- 18413
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Futter | füttern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nahrung der Tiere | einem Tier Nahrung geben |
Where the eye mixes Futter and füttern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Futter with füttern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Futter is [ˈfʊtɐ] while füttern is [ˈfʏtɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Futter is recorded at frequency rank #7,175, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʊtɐ]. füttern is at rank #11,238, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏtɐn].
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 18413, this pair ranks #1,918,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Futter vs füttern
Shared letters: efrt. Private to "Futter": u. Private to "füttern": nü.
"Futter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "füttern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Futter ← ffutter · ftuter · futer · futetr · futterr · futtre · uftter
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Futter" and "füttern" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Futter" or "füttern"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Futter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "füttern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,918,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Futter" and "füttern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fügten vs füttern". 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 #1,918,463 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.