Which to use
“Fehlern” is a noun and “feilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,558
- “Fehlern” frequency rank
- #33,041
- “feilen” frequency rank
- 41599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fehlern | feilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Fehler | mit einer Feile bearbeiten |
Where the eye mixes Fehlern and feilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Fehlern runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against feilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Fehlern vs feilen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fehlern is [ˈfeːlɐn] while feilen is [ˈfaɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fehlern is recorded at frequency rank #8,558, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːlɐn]. feilen is at rank #33,041, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯lən].
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 41599, this pair ranks #1,474,641 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Fehlern vs feilen
Shared letters: efln. Private to "Fehlern": hr. Private to "feilen": i.
"Fehlern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "feilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Fehlern" and "feilen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Fehlern" vs "feilen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Fehlern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "feilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,474,641 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fehlern" and "feilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feilen vs Filet". 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 #1,474,641 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.