Which to use
“fehle” and “feilen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,247
- “fehle” frequency rank
- #33,041
- “feilen” frequency rank
- 53288
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehle | feilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fehlen | mit einer Feile bearbeiten |
Where the eye mixes fehle and feilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fehle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against feilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fehle with feilen
A purely visual mix-up. fehle ([ˈfeːlə]) and feilen ([ˈfaɪ̯lən]) 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 53288, 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]. feilen is at rank #33,041, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯lən].
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 53288, this pair ranks #1,063,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fehle vs feilen
Shared letters: efl. Private to "fehle": h. Private to "feilen": in.
"fehle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "feilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fehle" for "feilen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fehle" vs "feilen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "feilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,063,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehle" and "feilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feilen vs Filet". 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 #1,063,869 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.