Which to use
“feel” is a verb and “fil” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,800
- “feel” frequency rank
- #43,176
- “fil” frequency rank
- 57976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feel | fil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fühlen, spüren | mächtiges Säugetier mit Rüssel und Stoßzähnen; Elefant |
Where the eye mixes feel and fil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses feel with fil
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feel is [fiːl] while fil is [fiɫ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feel is recorded at frequency rank #14,800, classified as averb, pronounced [fiːl]. fil is at rank #43,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fiɫ].
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 57976, this pair ranks #880,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feel vs fil
Shared letters: fl. Private to "feel": e. Private to "fil": i.
"feel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- feel ← efel · feell · fele · ffeel
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "feel" for "fil" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "feel" or "fil" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "feel" and "fil" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "feel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #880,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feel" and "fil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil 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 #880,396 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.