Which to use
“Fehler” and “Führer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #746
- “Fehler” frequency rank
- #2,824
- “Führer” frequency rank
- 3570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fehler | Führer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Abweichung von einem optimalen Zustand, Verfahren oder dem Richtigen | leitende Person in einer Organisation, Vereinigung oder Bewegung |
Where the eye mixes Fehler and Führer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Fehler and Führer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between Fehler and Führer
A purely visual mix-up. Fehler ([ˈfeːlɐ]) and Führer ([ˈfyːʁɐ]) 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 3570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fehler is recorded at frequency rank #746, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːlɐ]. Führer is at rank #2,824, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfyːʁɐ].
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 3570, this pair ranks #1,999,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Fehler vs Führer
Shared letters: efhr. Private to "Fehler": l. Private to "Führer": ü.
"Fehler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Führer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Fehler ← efhler · fehelr · fehhler · fehlerr · fehller · fehlre · felher · ffehler
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Fehler" for "Führer" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Fehler" or "Führer" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Fehler" and "Führer" 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 "Führer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,999,904 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fehler" and "Führer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Führer vs Führerin". 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 #1,999,904 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.