fürvsfutWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: für is a preposition, fut is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“für” is a preposition and “fut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,139
“für” frequency rank
#39,242
“fut” frequency rank
77381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature für fut
Definition Por. Pasado simple del modo indicativo del verbo être y para il/elle/on.

Where the eye mixes für and fut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. für and fut follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
für
3 ch
fut

Why the eye confuses für with fut

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: für is [fyːɐ̯] while fut is /fy/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

für is recorded at frequency rank #38,139, classified as aprep, pronounced [fyːɐ̯]. fut is at rank #39,242, tagged as averb, pronounced /fy/.

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 77381, this pair ranks #16,105 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of für vs fut

Shared letters: f. Private to "für": rü. Private to "fut": tu.

"für" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "fut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "für" for "fut" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "für" is a preposition and "fut" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "für" vs "fut" - which ranks higher?
"für" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,139 in our Spanish list, against #39,242 for "fut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "für" and "fut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "für" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,105 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "für" and "fut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fuste vs fut". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #16,105 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list