für

/[fyːɐ̯]/ prep

Letters

3 characters

Frequency Rank

#16

in German word usage

Misspellings

0

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

für is aGermanprep. It means: etwas oder jemand ist an etwas jemanden gerichtet, bestimmt, zugeordnet Pronounced [fyːɐ̯]. It ranks #16 in German word frequency. Often confused with FW and FV.

Key facts for für
PropertyValue
Headwordfür
LanguageGerman
Part of speechPrep
IPA[fyːɐ̯]
Letters3
Frequency rank#16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of für in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for für is 3 letters long, classified as aprep, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [fyːɐ̯]. Corpus data places it at rank #16 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for für in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable German patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "FW", "FV", "fürs", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is für, spelled F-Ü-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas oder jemand ist an etwas jemanden gerichtet, bestimmt, zugeordnet
  2. 2
    bestimmt oder gibt einen Zweck, einen Nutzen, eine Absicht, ein Ziel an; bestimmt einen Vorteil oder Nachteil, einen Zuschlag, eine Bestimmung jemandes oder etwas
  3. 3
    gegen, ein Mittel gegen
  4. 4
    wegen, bestimmt oder gibt einen Grund, eine Ursache an
  5. 5
    bestimmt oder gibt eine Wertung, Auffassung, Meinung wieder
  6. 6
    bestimmt oder gibt eine Leistung, einen Wert, einen Preis an
  7. 7
    anstelle, vertretend, vergleichend
  8. 8
    bestimmt oder gibt einen Zeitraum oder Zeitpunkt an
  9. 9
    bestimmt oder gibt eine Folge an

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #16 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "für"?
"für" is spelled F-Ü-R. The IPA pronunciation is [fyːɐ̯].
What does "für" mean?
As a prep, "für" means: etwas oder jemand ist an etwas jemanden gerichtet, bestimmt, zugeordnet
What words are commonly confused with "für"?
"für" is commonly confused with "FW", "FV", "fürs". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "für"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "für" is [fyːɐ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "für" come from?
"für" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.