Which to use
“fehlen” is a verb and “Fühler” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,415
- “fehlen” frequency rank
- #27,311
- “Fühler” frequency rank
- 28726
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehlen | Fühler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht vorhanden sein | Körperteil, das zum Tasten und Fühlen verwendet wird (meist bei Insekten etc.) |
Where the eye mixes fehlen and Fühler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fehlen and Fühler follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses fehlen with Fühler
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fehlen is [ˈfeːlən] while Fühler is [ˈfyːlɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28726, 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]. Fühler is at rank #27,311, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfyːlɐ].
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 28726, this pair ranks #1,779,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fehlen vs Fühler
Shared letters: efhl. Private to "fehlen": n. Private to "Fühler": rü.
"fehlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Fühler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fehlen ← efhlen · feheln · fehhlen · fehlenn · fehllen · fehlne · felhen · ffehlen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fehlen" for "Fühler" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fehlen" or "Fühler"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Fühler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,779,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehlen" and "Fühler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fühler vs Fünfer". 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 #1,779,686 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.