FehdevsfehleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Fehde is a noun, fehle is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Fehde” is a noun and “fehle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,552
“Fehde” frequency rank
#20,247
“fehle” frequency rank
50799
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fehde fehle
Definition kämpferische Auseinandersetzung, um Ansprüche durchzusetzen; früher eine Streithandlung mit Waffengewalt, heute in übertragenem Sinne länger währende Auseinandersetzung mit anderen Mitteln, zum Beispiel mit dem gesprochenen Wort 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fehlen

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Fehde
5 ch
fehle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fehde is [ˈfeːdə] while fehle is [ˈfeːlə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “Fehde” becomes l in “fehle”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fehde is recorded at frequency rank #30,552, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːdə]. fehle is at rank #20,247, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːlə].

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 50799, this pair ranks #1,160,002 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fehde vs fehle

Shared letters: efh. Private to "Fehde": d. Private to "fehle": l.

"Fehde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fehle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fehdeefhde · fedhe · fehdde · fehed · fehhde · ffehde · fhede
  • fehleefhle · fehel · fehhle · fehlle · felhe · ffehle · fhele

Frequency comparison

Fehde#30,552
fehle#20,247

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fehde" and "fehle" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fehde" is a noun and "fehle" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fehde" or "fehle"?
"fehle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,247 in our German list, against #30,552 for "Fehde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Fehde vs fehle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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