Which to use
“fehlte” is a verb and “Felle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,362
- “fehlte” frequency rank
- #31,039
- “Felle” frequency rank
- 36401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehlte | Felle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fehlen | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Fell |
Where the eye mixes fehlte and Felle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fehlte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) 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 fehlte with Felle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fehlte is [ˈfeːltə] while Felle is [ˈfɛlə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fehlte is recorded at frequency rank #5,362, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːltə]. 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 36401, this pair ranks #1,616,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fehlte vs Felle
Shared letters: efl. Private to "fehlte": ht. Private to "Felle": -.
"fehlte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "Felle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fehlte" and "Felle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fehlte" vs "Felle" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlte" 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 #1,616,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehlte" 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 #1,616,532 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.