Which to use
“fehle” and “fiele” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,247
- “fehle” frequency rank
- #40,535
- “fiele” frequency rank
- 60782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehle | fiele |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fehlen | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fallen |
Where the eye mixes fehle and fiele
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fehle (CVCCV) and fiele (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: fehle vs fiele
A purely visual mix-up. fehle ([ˈfeːlə]) and fiele ([ˈfiːlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60782, 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]. fiele is at rank #40,535, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfiːlə].
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 60782, this pair ranks #774,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fehle vs fiele
Shared letters: efl. Private to "fehle": h. Private to "fiele": i.
"fehle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fiele" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fehle" and "fiele" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "fehle" or "fiele" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "fiele" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #774,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehle" and "fiele" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fiele vs friere". 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 #774,282 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.