Which to use
“fehlen” and “füllen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,415
- “fehlen” frequency rank
- #5,171
- “füllen” frequency rank
- 6586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehlen | füllen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht vorhanden sein | einen Behälter voll machen, eine Aushöhlung stopfen |
Where the eye mixes fehlen and füllen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fehlen with füllen
A purely visual mix-up. fehlen ([ˈfeːlən]) and füllen ([ˈfʏlən]) 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 6586, 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]. füllen is at rank #5,171, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏlən].
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 6586, this pair ranks #1,991,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fehlen vs füllen
Shared letters: efln. Private to "fehlen": h. Private to "füllen": ü.
"fehlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "füllen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fehlen ← efhlen · feheln · fehhlen · fehlenn · fehllen · fehlne · felhen · ffehlen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fehlen" and "füllen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "fehlen" or "füllen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "füllen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehlen" and "füllen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fügten vs füllen". 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 #1,991,125 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.