TransfervstransfersWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#8,295
“Transfer” frequency rank
#18,727
“transfers” frequency rank
27022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Transfer transfers
Definition Weitergabe von Gegenständen oder Informationen/Wissen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs transfer

Letter map: Transfer vs transfers

Shared letters muted; letters that set Transfer and transfers apart highlighted. Shared run: 8.

8 ch
Transfer
9 ch
transfers

Part-of-speech tell for Transfer / transfers

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Transfer is anoun and transfersaverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Transfer” sits inside “transfers”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Transfer is recorded at frequency rank #8,295, classified as anoun, pronounced [tʁansˈfeːɐ̯]. transfers is at rank #18,727, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 27022, this pair ranks #1,808,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Transfer vs transfers

Shared letters: aefnrst. Private to "Transfer": -. Private to "transfers": -.

"Transfer" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC  ·  "transfers" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Transferrtansfer · tarnsfer · tranfser · trannsfer · transefr · transferr · transffer · transfre
  • transfersrtansfers · tarnsfers · tranfsers · trannsfers · transefrs · transferrs · transferss · transfesr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Transfer" for "transfers" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Transfer" is a noun and "transfers" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Transfer" or "transfers" show up more?
"Transfer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,295 in our German list, against #18,727 for "transfers". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "Transfer" and "transfers".

  • Full dictionary entry for "Transfer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "transfers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,808,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Transfer" and "transfers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs transfers". 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 #1,808,564 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