fälltvsfehltWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fällt” and “fehlt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#714
“fällt” frequency rank
#950
“fehlt” frequency rank
1664
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fällt fehlt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fallen Imperativ Plural (ihr) des Verbs fehlen

Where the eye mixes fällt and fehlt

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

5 ch
fällt
5 ch
fehlt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fällt ([fɛlt]) and fehlt ([feːlt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fällt is recorded at frequency rank #714, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛlt]. fehlt is at rank #950, tagged as averb, pronounced [feːlt].

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 1664, this pair ranks #2,003,941 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fällt vs fehlt

Shared letters: flt. Private to "fällt": ä. Private to "fehlt": eh.

"fällt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "fehlt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fehltefhlt · fehhlt · fehllt · fehltt · fehtl · felht · ffehlt · fhelt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fällt" and "fehlt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛlt] versus [feːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fällt" or "fehlt"?
"fällt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #714 in our German list, against #950 for "fehlt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list