fehlendemvsfehlendesConfusable pair

Which to use

“fehlendem” and “fehlendes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,863
“fehlendem” frequency rank
#34,091
“fehlendes” frequency rank
77954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fehlendem fehlendes
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fehlend Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fehlend

Where the eye mixes fehlendem and fehlendes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. fehlendem and fehlendes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
fehlendem
9 ch
fehlendes

Why the eye confuses fehlendem with fehlendes

A purely visual mix-up. fehlendem ([ˈfeːləndəm]) and fehlendes ([ˈfeːləndəs]) 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 a single letter - m in “fehlendem” becomes s in “fehlendes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fehlendem is recorded at frequency rank #43,863, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeːləndəm]. fehlendes is at rank #34,091, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeːləndəs].

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 77954, this pair ranks #249,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fehlendem vs fehlendes

Shared letters: defhln. Private to "fehlendem": m. Private to "fehlendes": s.

"fehlendem" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "fehlendes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fehlendemefhlendem · fehelndem · fehhlendem · fehlednem · fehlenddem · fehlendemm · fehlendme · fehlenedm
  • fehlendesefhlendes · fehelndes · fehhlendes · fehlednes · fehlenddes · fehlendess · fehlendse · fehleneds

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fehlendem" and "fehlendes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfeːləndəm] versus [ˈfeːləndəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "fehlendem" or "fehlendes" show up more?
"fehlendes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,091 in our German list, against #43,863 for "fehlendem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fehlendem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fehlendes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,098 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fehlendem" and "fehlendes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fehlendes vs führendes". 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 #249,098 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list