surfen

/[ˈsœːɐ̯fn̩]/ verb

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#11,762

in German word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

surfen is aGermanverb. It means: auf einem speziell dafür konzipierten Brett (Surfboard/Surfbrett) im Stehen sich balancierend von den Brandungswellen ans Ufer tragen lassen; Surfing betreiben Pronounced [ˈsœːɐ̯fn̩]. Often confused with surft and Syrien.

Key facts for surfen
PropertyValue
Headwordsurfen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈsœːɐ̯fn̩]
Letters6
Frequency rank#11,762
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for surfen is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈsœːɐ̯fn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #11,762 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for surfen, with forms such as "srufen", "ssurfen", and "sufren". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "surft", "Syrien", "Surfer", 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 surfen, spelled S-U-R-F-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    auf einem speziell dafür konzipierten Brett (Surfboard/Surfbrett) im Stehen sich balancierend von den Brandungswellen ans Ufer tragen lassen; Surfing betreiben
  2. 2
    auf einem Surfbrett, das mit einem Segel ausgerüstet ist, stehend segeln; Windsurfing betreiben
  3. 3
    mit der unter [2] beschriebenen Fortbewegungsart irgendwohin gelangen
  4. 4
    so mit einem Boot segeln, dass es so lange wie möglich vom Wellenkamm nach vorn geschoben wird
  5. 5
    (im Internet) mit oder ohne bestimmte Kriterien nach Informationen suchen, indem man durch das Anklicken von Hyperlinks nach und nach Webseiten aufruft
  6. 6
    durch die unter [5] beschriebene Tätigkeit (eine Zeit lang) eine Webseite nach der anderen anwählen
  7. 7
    sich durch alle möglichen Fernsehprogramme schalten
  8. 8
    aus Übermut auf dem Dach oder an der Außenseite eines S-Bahn-Wagens waghalsig mitfahren

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: srufen,ssurfen,sufren,surefn,surfenn,surffen,surfne,surrfen,usrfen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for surfen

Misspelling Variants of "surfen"

srufen6ssurfen7sufren6surefn6surfenn7surffen7surfne6surrfen7
Misspelling Variants of "surfen"

Frequency rank: #11,762 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "surfen"?
"surfen" is spelled S-U-R-F-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈsœːɐ̯fn̩].
What does "surfen" mean?
As a verb, "surfen" means: auf einem speziell dafür konzipierten Brett (Surfboard/Surfbrett) im Stehen sich balancierend von den Brandungswellen ans Ufer tragen lassen; Surfing betreiben
What words are commonly confused with "surfen"?
"surfen" is commonly confused with "surft", "Syrien", "Surfer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "surfen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "surfen" is [ˈsœːɐ̯fn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "surfen" come from?
"surfen" 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 S 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.