FehlernvsfühlenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Fehlern is a noun, fühlen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Fehlern” is a noun and “fühlen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,558
“Fehlern” frequency rank
#1,290
“fühlen” frequency rank
9848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fehlern fühlen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Fehler per Tastsinn beziehungsweise allgemein über die Haut wahrnehmen oder erkunden

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Fehlern and fühlen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Fehlern
6 ch
fühlen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fehlern is [ˈfeːlɐn] while fühlen is [ˈfyːlən]. 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 9848, 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]. fühlen is at rank #1,290, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːlən].

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 9848, this pair ranks #1,978,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fehlern vs fühlen

Shared letters: efhln. Private to "Fehlern": r. Private to "fühlen": ü.

"Fehlern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "fühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fehlernefhlern · fehelrn · fehhlern · fehlenr · fehlernn · fehlerrn · fehllern · fehlren

Frequency comparison

Fehlern#8,558
fühlen#1,290

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fehlern" and "fühlen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fehlern" is a noun and "fühlen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fehlern" or "fühlen"?
"fühlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,290 in our German list, against #8,558 for "Fehlern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Fehlern vs fühlen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Fehlern”; for a verb, it's “fühlen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Fehlern” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list