Which to use
“fehlen” is a verb and “fehlende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,415
- “fehlen” frequency rank
- #4,983
- “fehlende” frequency rank
- 6398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehlen | fehlende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht vorhanden sein | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fehlend |
Where the eye mixes fehlen and fehlende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fehlen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fehlende's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fehlen with fehlende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fehlen is [ˈfeːlən] while fehlende is [ˈfeːləndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “fehlen” sits inside “fehlende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fehlen is recorded at frequency rank #1,415, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːlən]. fehlende is at rank #4,983, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeːləndə].
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 6398, this pair ranks #1,991,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fehlen vs fehlende
Shared letters: efhln. Private to "fehlen": -. Private to "fehlende": d.
"fehlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fehlende" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fehlen" and "fehlende" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "fehlen" or "fehlende" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fehlen" and "fehlende" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehlen" and "fehlende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fehlende vs fehlendem". 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 #1,991,781 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.