fegenvsflehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,040
“fegen” frequency rank
#40,536
“flehen” frequency rank
73576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fegen flehen
Definition mit einem Besen entfernen emotional, stark untersetzt, bei jemandem um etwas bitten

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
fegen
6 ch
flehen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fegen ([ˈfeːɡn̩]) and flehen ([ˈfleːən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fegen is recorded at frequency rank #33,040, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːɡn̩]. flehen is at rank #40,536, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfleːən].

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 73576, this pair ranks #356,622 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fegen vs flehen

Shared letters: efn. Private to "fegen": g. Private to "flehen": hl.

"fegen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "flehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fegenefgen · feegn · fegenn · feggen · fegne · ffegen · fgeen
  • flehenfflehen · fleehn · flehenn · flehhen · flehne · flheen · fllehen · lfehen

Frequency comparison

fegen#33,040
flehen#40,536

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fegen" and "flehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfeːɡn̩] versus [ˈfleːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fegen" or "flehen"?
"fegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,040 in our German list, against #40,536 for "flehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fegen vs flehen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fegen” 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