feelsvsfiesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: feels is a verb, fies is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“feels” is a verb and “fies” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,663
“feels” frequency rank
#17,292
“fies” frequency rank
66955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feels fies
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs feel Ekel erregend unangenehm

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feels and fies apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
feels
4 ch
fies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: feels is averb and fiesanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feels is recorded at frequency rank #49,663, classified as averb, pronounced […]. fies is at rank #17,292, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fiːs].

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 66955, this pair ranks #556,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feels vs fies

Shared letters: efs. Private to "feels": l. Private to "fies": i.

"feels" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "fies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feelsefels · feells · feelss · feesl · feles · ffeels
  • fiesfeis · ffies · fiess · fise · ifes

Frequency comparison

feels#49,663
fies#17,292

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feels" and "fies" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feels" is a verb and "fies" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "feels" or "fies"?
"fies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,292 in our German list, against #49,663 for "feels". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feels vs fies

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “feels”; for an adjective, it's “fies”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feels” 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