VierenvsvierzehnWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Vieren is a noun, vierzehn is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Vieren” is a noun and “vierzehn” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,372
“Vieren” frequency rank
#11,779
“vierzehn” frequency rank
42151
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vieren vierzehn
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vier die Kardinalzahl zwischen dreizehn und fünfzehn

Where the eye mixes Vieren and vierzehn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Vieren runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against vierzehn's 8 (CVVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Vieren
8 ch
vierzehn

Visual trap between Vieren and vierzehn

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vieren is [ˈfiːʁən] while vierzehn is [ˈfɪʁt͡seːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vieren is recorded at frequency rank #30,372, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfiːʁən]. vierzehn is at rank #11,779, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈfɪʁt͡seːn].

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 42151, this pair ranks #1,458,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Vieren vs vierzehn

Shared letters: einrv. Private to "Vieren": -. Private to "vierzehn": hz.

"Vieren" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "vierzehn" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vieren ← iveren · veiren · vieern · vierenn · vierne · vierren · vireen · vvieren
  • vierzehn ← iverzehn · veirzehn · vierezhn · vierrzehn · vierzehhn · vierzehnn · vierzenh · vierzhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vieren" for "vierzehn" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vieren" is a noun and "vierzehn" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Vieren" or "vierzehn" show up more?
"vierzehn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,779 in our German list, against #30,372 for "Vieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vierzehn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,458,051 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vieren" and "vierzehn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Viereck vs Vieren". 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 #1,458,051 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