FelgenvsFersenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,289
“Felgen” frequency rank
#19,212
“Fersen” frequency rank
46501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Felgen Fersen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Felge Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Ferse

Where the eye mixes Felgen and Fersen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Felgen and Fersen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Felgen
6 ch
Fersen

Look-alike desk: Felgen vs Fersen

A purely visual mix-up. Felgen ([ˈfɛlɡn̩]) and Fersen ([ˈfɛʁzn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Felgen is recorded at frequency rank #27,289, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛlɡn̩]. Fersen is at rank #19,212, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛʁzn̩].

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 46501, this pair ranks #1,316,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Felgen vs Fersen

Shared letters: efn. Private to "Felgen": gl. Private to "Fersen": rs.

"Felgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Fersen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Felgen ← eflgen · feglen · felegn · felgenn · felggen · felgne · fellgen · ffelgen
  • Fersen ← efrsen · feresn · ferrsen · fersenn · fersne · fesren · ffersen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Felgen" and "Fersen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɛlɡn̩] versus [ˈfɛʁzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Felgen" vs "Fersen" - which ranks higher?
"Fersen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,212 in our German list, against #27,289 for "Felgen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Felgen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fersen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,316,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Felgen" and "Fersen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Felge vs Felgen". 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 #1,316,890 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