Which to use
“fehlten” and “füllten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,647
- “fehlten” frequency rank
- #32,541
- “füllten” frequency rank
- 44188
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fehlten | füllten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fehlen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs füllen |
Where the eye mixes fehlten and füllten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fehlten vs füllten
A purely visual mix-up. fehlten ([ˈfeːltn̩]) and füllten ([ˈfʏltn̩]) 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 44188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fehlten is recorded at frequency rank #11,647, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfeːltn̩]. füllten is at rank #32,541, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏltn̩].
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 44188, this pair ranks #1,394,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fehlten vs füllten
Shared letters: eflnt. Private to "fehlten": h. Private to "füllten": ü.
"fehlten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "füllten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fehlten ← efhlten · fehhlten · fehletn · fehllten · fehltenn · fehltne · fehltten · fehtlen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fehlten" and "füllten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "fehlten" or "füllten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fehlten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "füllten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,394,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fehlten" and "füllten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fügten vs füllten". 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 #1,394,177 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.