feivsFelixTell them apart

Quick tell: fei is a particle, Felix is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fei” is a particle and “Felix” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,248
“fei” frequency rank
#3,246
“Felix” frequency rank
24494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fei Felix
Definition erzgebirgisch, fränkisch, süddeutsch, oberdeutsch, drückt aus, dass man annimmt, dass die oder der Angesprochene das Gesagte noch nicht weiß männlicher Vorname

Where the eye mixes fei and Felix

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
fei
5 ch
Felix

Why the eye confuses fei with Felix

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fei is [faɪ̯] while Felix is [ˈfeːlɪks]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (particle vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fei is recorded at frequency rank #21,248, classified as aparticle, pronounced [faɪ̯]. Felix is at rank #3,246, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈfeːlɪks].

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 24494, this pair ranks #1,846,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fei vs Felix

Shared letters: efi. Private to "fei": -. Private to "Felix": lx.

"fei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "Felix" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Felixeflix · feilx · felixx · fellix · felxi · ffelix · fleix

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fei" and "Felix" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fei" is a particle and "Felix" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fei" or "Felix"?
"Felix" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,246 in our German list, against #21,248 for "fei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "fei" and "Felix" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Felix" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,846,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fei" and "Felix" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fay vs fei". 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 #1,846,807 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list