FabelvsfeelWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Fabel is a noun, feel is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Fabel” is a noun and “feel” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,092
“Fabel” frequency rank
#14,800
“feel” frequency rank
52892
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fabel feel
Definition eine Form der Erzählung, in der menschliche Verhaltensweisen auf Tiere (seltener auf Pflanzen oder Dinge) übertragen werden, um so auf unterhaltsame Weise eine bestimmte Moral zu vermitteln fühlen, spüren

Where the eye mixes Fabel and feel

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Fabel
4 ch
feel

Why the eye confuses Fabel with feel

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fabel is [ˈfaːbl̩] while feel is [fiːl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52892, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fabel is recorded at frequency rank #38,092, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːbl̩]. feel is at rank #14,800, tagged as averb, pronounced [fiːl].

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 52892, this pair ranks #1,079,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fabel vs feel

Shared letters: efl. Private to "Fabel": ab. Private to "feel": -.

"Fabel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "feel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fabelafbel · fabbel · fabell · fable · faebl · fbael · ffabel
  • feelefel · feell · fele · ffeel

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Fabel" and "feel" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fabel" is a noun and "feel" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fabel" or "feel"?
"feel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,800 in our German list, against #38,092 for "Fabel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fabel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "feel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,079,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fabel" and "feel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fabel vs Färber". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,079,222 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list