Which to use
“Fehler” and “Felle” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #746
- “Fehler” frequency rank
- #31,039
- “Felle” frequency rank
- 31785
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fehler | Felle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Abweichung von einem optimalen Zustand, Verfahren oder dem Richtigen | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Fell |
Where the eye mixes Fehler and Felle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Fehler runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Felle's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Fehler with Felle
A purely visual mix-up. Fehler ([ˈfeːlɐ]) and Felle ([ˈfɛlə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fehler is recorded at frequency rank #746, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːlɐ]. Felle is at rank #31,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛlə].
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 31785, this pair ranks #1,721,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Fehler vs Felle
Shared letters: efl. Private to "Fehler": hr. Private to "Felle": -.
"Fehler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Felle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Fehler" and "Felle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Fehler" or "Felle"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Fehler" and "Felle" 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 "Felle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,721,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fehler" and "Felle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Felge vs Felle". 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 #1,721,113 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.