Which to use
“Fahrten” is a noun and “fehlten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,360
- “Fahrten” frequency rank
- #11,647
- “fehlten” frequency rank
- 20007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fahrten | fehlten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Fahrt | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fehlen |
Where the eye mixes Fahrten and fehlten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Fahrten and fehlten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Fahrten and fehlten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fahrten is [ˈfaːɐ̯tən] while fehlten is [ˈfeːltn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fahrten is recorded at frequency rank #8,360, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaːɐ̯tən]. fehlten is at rank #11,647, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːltn̩].
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 20007, this pair ranks #1,902,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Fahrten vs fehlten
Shared letters: efhnt. Private to "Fahrten": ar. Private to "fehlten": l.
"Fahrten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "fehlten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Fahrten" and "fehlten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Fahrten" or "fehlten" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Fahrten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,902,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fahrten" and "fehlten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fahnden vs Fahrten". 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 #1,902,289 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.