Which to use
“fehle” and “fehlst” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,247
- “fehle” frequency rank
- #29,124
- “fehlst” frequency rank
- 49371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehle | fehlst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fehlen | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fehlen |
Where the eye mixes fehle and fehlst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fehle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fehlst's 6 (CVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fehle and fehlst
A purely visual mix-up. fehle ([ˈfeːlə]) and fehlst ([feːlst]) 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 49371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fehle is recorded at frequency rank #20,247, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːlə]. fehlst is at rank #29,124, tagged as averb, pronounced [feːlst].
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 49371, this pair ranks #1,213,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fehle vs fehlst
Shared letters: efhl. Private to "fehle": -. Private to "fehlst": st.
"fehle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fehlst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fehle" for "fehlst" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fehle" or "fehlst"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fehle" and "fehlst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,213,982 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehle" and "fehlst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feels vs fehlst". 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 #1,213,982 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.