Which to use
“Feige” is a noun and “feilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,425
- “Feige” frequency rank
- #33,041
- “feilen” frequency rank
- 44466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Feige | feilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | essbare, süße, fleischige Frucht des Feigenbaums | mit einer Feile bearbeiten |
Where the eye mixes Feige and feilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Feige runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against feilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Feige with feilen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feige is [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə] while feilen is [ˈfaɪ̯lən]. 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 44466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Feige is recorded at frequency rank #11,425, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə]. feilen is at rank #33,041, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯lən].
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 44466, this pair ranks #1,385,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Feige vs feilen
Shared letters: efi. Private to "Feige": g. Private to "feilen": ln.
"Feige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "feilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Feige" for "feilen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Feige" or "feilen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Feige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "feilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,385,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Feige" and "feilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feilen vs Filet". 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 #1,385,308 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.