Which to use
“offen” is an adjective and “opfern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #888
- “offen” frequency rank
- #4,729
- “opfern” frequency rank
- 5617
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | offen | opfern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht geschlossen, zum Beispiel als Zustandsbeschreibung einer Eingangsmöglichkeit | etwas als Opfer darbringen; etwas einem Gott während einer Zeremonie geben |
Where the eye mixes offen and opfern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between offen and opfern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: offen is [ˈɔfn̩] while opfern is [ˈɔp͡fɐn]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
offen is recorded at frequency rank #888, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔfn̩]. opfern is at rank #4,729, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɔp͡fɐn].
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 5617, this pair ranks #1,994,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of offen vs opfern
Shared letters: efno. Private to "offen": -. Private to "opfern": pr.
"offen" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "opfern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "offen" for "opfern" ever safe?
Which is more common, "offen" or "opfern"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "offen" and "opfern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "offen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "opfern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,994,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "offen" and "opfern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "opfern vs opferte". 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 #1,994,211 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.