Which to use
“fehlt” and “fehlten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #950
- “fehlt” frequency rank
- #11,647
- “fehlten” frequency rank
- 12597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehlt | fehlten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Imperativ Plural (ihr) des Verbs fehlen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fehlen |
Where the eye mixes fehlt and fehlten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fehlt runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against fehlten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fehlt vs fehlten
A purely visual mix-up. fehlt ([feːlt]) and fehlten ([ˈfeːltn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fehlt” sits inside “fehlten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fehlt is recorded at frequency rank #950, classified as averb, pronounced [feːlt]. fehlten is at rank #11,647, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːltn̩].
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 12597, this pair ranks #1,963,225 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fehlt vs fehlten
Shared letters: efhlt. Private to "fehlt": -. Private to "fehlten": n.
"fehlt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "fehlten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fehlt" and "fehlten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fehlt" vs "fehlten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "fehlt" and "fehlten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,963,225 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehlt" and "fehlten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feels vs fehlt". 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 #1,963,225 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.