FassvsfilsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,605
“Fass” frequency rank
#49,670
“fils” frequency rank
57275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fass fils
Definition ein Behälter aus Holz, Metall, Plastik zur Aufbewahrung und zum Transport von flüssigen Gütern, Schüttgütern und Ähnlichem männlicher Nachkomme: Sohn

Where the eye mixes Fass and fils

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Fass and fils follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
Fass
4 ch
fils

Look-alike desk: Fass vs fils

A purely visual mix-up. Fass ([fas]) and fils ([fis]) 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 57275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fass is recorded at frequency rank #7,605, classified as anoun, pronounced [fas]. fils is at rank #49,670, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fis].

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 57275, this pair ranks #907,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fass vs fils

Shared letters: fs. Private to "Fass": a. Private to "fils": il.

"Fass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fass ← afss · faß · ffass · fsas
  • fils ← ffils · fills · filss · fisl · flis · ifls

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fass" and "fils" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fas] versus [fis]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Fass" or "fils"?
"Fass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,605 in our German list, against #49,670 for "fils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fass" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #907,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fass" and "fils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fils vs fist". 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 #907,650 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