Which to use
“Fehler” is a noun and “fehlst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #746
- “Fehler” frequency rank
- #29,124
- “fehlst” frequency rank
- 29870
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fehler | fehlst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Abweichung von einem optimalen Zustand, Verfahren oder dem Richtigen | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fehlen |
Where the eye mixes Fehler and fehlst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Fehler (CVCCVC) and fehlst (CVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: Fehler vs fehlst
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fehler is [ˈfeːlɐ] while fehlst is [feːlst]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fehler is recorded at frequency rank #746, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːlɐ]. fehlst is at rank #29,124, tagged as averb, pronounced [feːlst].
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 29870, this pair ranks #1,758,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Fehler vs fehlst
Shared letters: efhl. Private to "Fehler": r. Private to "fehlst": st.
"Fehler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fehlst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Fehler" for "fehlst" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Fehler" vs "fehlst" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Fehler" and "fehlst" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Fehler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,758,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fehler" and "fehlst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feels vs fehlst". 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 #1,758,682 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.