Which to use
“feilen” is a verb and “Felle” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,041
- “feilen” frequency rank
- #31,039
- “Felle” frequency rank
- 64080
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feilen | Felle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einer Feile bearbeiten | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Fell |
Where the eye mixes feilen and Felle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. feilen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Felle's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: feilen vs Felle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feilen is [ˈfaɪ̯lən] 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 64080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feilen is recorded at frequency rank #33,041, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯lən]. 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 64080, this pair ranks #654,123 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feilen vs Felle
Shared letters: efl. Private to "feilen": in. Private to "Felle": -.
"feilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "Felle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "feilen" for "Felle" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "feilen" or "Felle" 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 "feilen" 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 #654,123 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feilen" and "Felle" 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 #654,123 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.