VatervsVatersConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#536
“Vater” frequency rank
#2,562
“Vaters” frequency rank
3098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vater Vaters
Definition männlicher Elternteil Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Vater

Where the eye mixes Vater and Vaters

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

5 ch
Vater
6 ch
Vaters

Look-alike desk: Vater vs Vaters

A purely visual mix-up. Vater ([ˈfaːtɐ]) and Vaters ([ˈfaːtɐs]) 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) - “Vater” sits inside “Vaters”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vater is recorded at frequency rank #536, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːtɐ]. Vaters is at rank #2,562, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːtɐs].

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 3098, this pair ranks #2,000,949 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Vater vs Vaters

Shared letters: aertv. Private to "Vater": -. Private to "Vaters": s.

"Vater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Vaters" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vateravter · vaetr · vaterr · vatre · vatter · vtaer · vvater
  • Vatersavters · vaetrs · vaterrs · vaterss · vatesr · vatres · vatters · vtaers

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vater" for "Vaters" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaːtɐ] versus [ˈfaːtɐs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Vater" vs "Vaters" - which ranks higher?
"Vater" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #536 in our German list, against #2,562 for "Vaters". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vaters" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,949 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vater" and "Vaters" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vater vs Viper". 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 #2,000,949 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