PhasenvsPhraseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,092
“Phasen” frequency rank
#21,729
“Phrase” frequency rank
28821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Phasen Phrase
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Phase syntaktisch zusammengehörige Wortgruppe (Konstituente)

Where the eye mixes Phasen and Phrase

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

6 ch
Phasen
6 ch
Phrase

Why the eye confuses Phasen with Phrase

A purely visual mix-up. Phasen ([ˈfaːzn̩]) and Phrase ([ˈfʁaːzə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Phasen is recorded at frequency rank #7,092, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːzn̩]. Phrase is at rank #21,729, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁaːzə].

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 28821, this pair ranks #1,777,978 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Phasen vs Phrase

Shared letters: aehps. Private to "Phasen": n. Private to "Phrase": r.

"Phasen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Phrase" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Phasenhpasen · pahsen · phaesn · phasenn · phasne · phassen · phhasen · phsaen
  • Phrasehprase · pharse · phhrase · phraes · phrasse · phrrase · phrsae · pphrase

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Phasen" for "Phrase" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaːzn̩] versus [ˈfʁaːzə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Phasen" vs "Phrase" - which ranks higher?
"Phasen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,092 in our German list, against #21,729 for "Phrase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Phasen" and "Phrase" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Phasen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Phrase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,777,978 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Phasen" and "Phrase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Phrase vs Präses". 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 #1,777,978 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