FeldvsfilWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Feld” and “fil” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,966
“Feld” frequency rank
#43,176
“fil” frequency rank
45142
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feld fil
Definition Acker; eine Fläche, auf der Pflanzen für eine Ernte angebaut werden mächtiges Säugetier mit Rüssel und Stoßzähnen; Elefant

Where the eye mixes Feld and fil

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Feld
3 ch
fil

Visual trap between Feld and fil

A purely visual mix-up. Feld ([fɛlt]) and fil ([fiɫ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45142, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Feld is recorded at frequency rank #1,966, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛlt]. fil is at rank #43,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fiɫ].

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 45142, this pair ranks #1,363,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Feld vs fil

Shared letters: fl. Private to "Feld": de. Private to "fil": i.

"Feld" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Feldefld · fedl · feldd · felld · ffeld · fled

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Feld" and "fil" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛlt] versus [fiɫ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Feld" or "fil" show up more?
"Feld" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,966 in our German list, against #43,176 for "fil". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Feld" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,363,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feld" and "fil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil 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 #1,363,042 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