Which to use
“feilen” is a verb and “Filet” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,041
- “feilen” frequency rank
- #48,889
- “Filet” frequency rank
- 81930
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feilen | Filet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit einer Feile bearbeiten | schmales, meist zartes Fleischstück von Rind, Schwein, Huhn oder entgrätetem Fisch |
Where the eye mixes feilen and Filet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. feilen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Filet's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between feilen and Filet
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feilen is [ˈfaɪ̯lən] while Filet is [fiˈleː]. 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 81930, 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]. Filet is at rank #48,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fiˈleː].
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 81930, this pair ranks #166,461 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of feilen vs Filet
Shared letters: efil. Private to "feilen": n. Private to "Filet": t.
"feilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "Filet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "feilen" and "Filet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "feilen" or "Filet" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "feilen" and "Filet" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "feilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Filet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,461 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feilen" and "Filet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Filet vs fist". 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 #166,461 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.