OpfervsopfernWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Opfer is a noun, opfern is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Opfer” is a noun and “opfern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#837
“Opfer” frequency rank
#4,729
“opfern” frequency rank
5566
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Opfer opfern
Definition meist rituelle Gabe an einen Gott etwas als Opfer darbringen; etwas einem Gott während einer Zeremonie geben

Where the eye mixes Opfer and opfern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Opfer
6 ch
opfern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Opfer is [ˈɔp͡fɐ] while opfern is [ˈɔp͡fɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Opfer” sits inside “opfern”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Opfer is recorded at frequency rank #837, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɔp͡fɐ]. 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 5566, this pair ranks #1,994,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Opfer vs opfern

Shared letters: efopr. Private to "Opfer": -. Private to "opfern": n.

"Opfer" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "opfern" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Opferofper · opefr · opferr · opffer · opfre · oppfer · pofer
  • opfernofpern · opefrn · opfenr · opfernn · opferrn · opffern · opfren · oppfern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Opfer" and "opfern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Opfer" is a noun and "opfern" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Opfer" or "opfern"?
"Opfer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #837 in our German list, against #4,729 for "opfern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Opfer" and "opfern". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Opfer" 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 #1,994,383 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Opfer" 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list