FehdevsfehlenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#30,552
“Fehde” frequency rank
#1,415
“fehlen” frequency rank
31967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fehde fehlen
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 nicht vorhanden sein

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Fehde
6 ch
fehlen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fehde is [ˈfeːdə] while fehlen is [ˈfeːlən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31967, 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]. fehlen is at rank #1,415, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːlən].

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 31967, this pair ranks #1,717,487 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fehde vs fehlen

Shared letters: efh. Private to "Fehde": d. Private to "fehlen": ln.

"Fehde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fehlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fehdeefhde · fedhe · fehdde · fehed · fehhde · ffehde · fhede
  • fehlenefhlen · feheln · fehhlen · fehlenn · fehllen · fehlne · felhen · ffehlen

Frequency comparison

Fehde#30,552
fehlen#1,415

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fehde" and "fehlen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fehde" is a noun and "fehlen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fehde" or "fehlen"?
"fehlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,415 in our German list, against #30,552 for "Fehde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Fehde vs fehlen

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 “fehlen”.
  • 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