fallsvsfällstWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: falls is a conjunction, fällst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“falls” is a conjunction and “fällst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#698
“falls” frequency rank
#32,046
“fällst” frequency rank
32744
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature falls fällst
Definition für den Fall, dass …; unter der Bedingung, dass … 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fallen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set falls and fällst apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
falls
6 ch
fällst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: falls is [fals] while fällst is [fɛlst]. 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 (conjunction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

falls is recorded at frequency rank #698, classified as aconj, pronounced [fals]. fällst is at rank #32,046, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛlst].

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 32744, this pair ranks #1,700,948 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of falls vs fällst

Shared letters: fls. Private to "falls": a. Private to "fällst": .

"falls" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "fällst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fallsaflls · fallss · fals · falsl · ffalls · flals

Frequency comparison

falls#698
fällst#32,046

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "falls" and "fällst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "falls" is a conjunction and "fällst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "falls" or "fällst"?
"falls" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #698 in our German list, against #32,046 for "fällst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering falls vs fällst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “falls”; for a verb, it's “fällst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “falls” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list