PfarreivsPfarreienWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,382
“Pfarrei” frequency rank
#31,214
“Pfarreien” frequency rank
45596
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pfarrei Pfarreien
Definition von einem Pfarrer geleitete, unterste kirchliche Behörde Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Pfarrei

Where the eye mixes Pfarrei and Pfarreien

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Pfarrei runs 7 letters (CCVCCVV) against Pfarreien's 9 (CCVCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Pfarrei
9 ch
Pfarreien

Visual trap between Pfarrei and Pfarreien

A purely visual mix-up. Pfarrei ([p͡faˈʁaɪ̯]) and Pfarreien ([p͡faˈʁaɪ̯ən]) 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) - “Pfarrei” sits inside “Pfarreien”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pfarrei is recorded at frequency rank #14,382, classified as anoun, pronounced [p͡faˈʁaɪ̯]. Pfarreien is at rank #31,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced [p͡faˈʁaɪ̯ən].

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 45596, this pair ranks #1,347,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pfarrei vs Pfarreien

Shared letters: aefipr. Private to "Pfarrei": -. Private to "Pfarreien": n.

"Pfarrei" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVV  ·  "Pfarreien" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pfarrei ← fparrei · pafrrei · pfarei · pfareri · pfarrie · pffarrei · pfrarei · ppfarrei
  • Pfarreien ← fparreien · pafrreien · pfareien · pfarerien · pfarreein · pfarreienn · pfarreine · pfarrieen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pfarrei" and "Pfarreien" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([p͡faˈʁaɪ̯] versus [p͡faˈʁaɪ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pfarrei" or "Pfarreien"?
"Pfarrei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,382 in our German list, against #31,214 for "Pfarreien". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pfarrei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pfarreien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,347,684 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pfarrei" and "Pfarreien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pfarreien vs Pfarrerin". 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 #1,347,684 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list