fangen
[ˈfaŋən]
The verdict
“fangen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #4,270. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #4,270
- frequency rank, German
- 3,474
- “F” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - jemanden seiner Freiheit berauben
Corpus desk
Index DE-fangen · fangen · German
fangen · rank #4,270 · 9 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,270
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,474
- PHOTO-FINISH Experte
Nearest frequency peer: Experte (-1 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “fangen”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- erkennbar
erkennbar
95,734 corpus weight
- erstellen
erstellen
95,733 corpus weight
- Experte
Experte
95,732 corpus weight
- fangen
fangen
95,731 corpus weight
- Fähigkeit
Fähigkeit
95,730 corpus weight
- genannte
genannte
95,729 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “fangen” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fangen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈfaŋən] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,270 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fangen” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around fangen (IPA [ˈfaŋən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #4,270 among 3,474 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for fangen, with forms such as "afngen", "fagnen", and "fanegn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fängt", "fügen", "fegen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is fangen, spelled F-A-N-G-E-N.
Definition
- 1jemanden seiner Freiheit berauben
- 2jemanden durch Tricks für sich gewinnen
- 3einen zugeworfenen Gegenstand fassen und festhalten
- 4sich fangen: seine Fassung wieder gewinnen
- 5ein Wildtier zur Strecke bringen, zu erlegen
- 6etwas fängt an zu brennen
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fangen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Fang mich doch! Du kriegst mich ja doch nicht.
„Laut dem Bundesnaturschutzgesetz ist es verboten, Bibern nachzustellen, sie zu fangen, zu verletzen oder zu töten sowie Burgen und Dämme zu beschädigen oder zu zerstören.“
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- afngen
- fagnen
- fanegn
- fangenn
- fanggen
- fangne
- fanngen
- ffangen
- fnagen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fangen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "fangen"?
What does "fangen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "fangen"?
How do you pronounce "fangen"?
What language does "fangen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fangen", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "fangen". Here's where to go from here.
- "fangen" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "fängt". View pair
- 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #4,270 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more German words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.