fern
[fɛʁn]
The verdict
“fern” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #4,196 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #4,196
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - weit weg vom bezeichneten Ort
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 | fern |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [fɛʁn] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #4,196 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fern” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for fern is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [fɛʁn]. Corpus data places it at rank #4,196 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for fern, with forms such as "efrn", "fenr", and "fernn". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "für", "for", "fun", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is fern, spelled F-E-R-N.
Definition
- 1weit weg vom bezeichneten Ort
- 2weit in der Vergangenheit oder der Zukunft liegend
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: efrn,fenr,fernn,ferrn,ffern,fren
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fern - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "fern"?
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Using “fern”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is F-E-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [fɛʁn] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “für” - see the side-by-side comparison. fern vs für
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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.