PhasevsPhasenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,407
“Phase” frequency rank
#7,092
“Phasen” frequency rank
9499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Phase Phasen
Definition stetig verlaufender Entwicklungsabschnitt oder stetiger zeitlicher Ablauf Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Phase

Where the eye mixes Phase and Phasen

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

5 ch
Phase
6 ch
Phasen

Visual trap between Phase and Phasen

A purely visual mix-up. Phase ([ˈfaːzə]) and Phasen ([ˈfaːzn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Phase” sits inside “Phasen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Phase is recorded at frequency rank #2,407, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːzə]. Phasen is at rank #7,092, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːzn̩].

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 9499, this pair ranks #1,979,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Phase vs Phasen

Shared letters: aehps. Private to "Phase": -. Private to "Phasen": n.

"Phase" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Phasen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Phasehpase · pahse · phaes · phasse · phhase · phsae · pphase
  • Phasenhpasen · pahsen · phaesn · phasenn · phasne · phassen · phhasen · phsaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Phase" for "Phasen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaːzə] versus [ˈfaːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Phase" or "Phasen" show up more?
"Phase" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,407 in our German list, against #7,092 for "Phasen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Phase" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Phasen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,979,652 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Phase" and "Phasen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Phasen vs Präsens". 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 #1,979,652 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