Which to use
“fesseln” and “fesselt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,428
- “fesseln” frequency rank
- #32,522
- “fesselt” frequency rank
- 43950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fesseln | fesselt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden (an etwas) festbinden und damit bewegungsunfähig machen | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fesseln |
Where the eye mixes fesseln and fesselt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fesseln and fesselt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: fesseln vs fesselt
A purely visual mix-up. fesseln ([ˈfɛsl̩n]) and fesselt ([ˈfɛsl̩t]) 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 a single letter - n in “fesseln” becomes t in “fesselt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fesseln is recorded at frequency rank #11,428, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfɛsl̩n]. fesselt is at rank #32,522, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɛsl̩t].
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 43950, this pair ranks #1,401,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fesseln vs fesselt
Shared letters: efls. Private to "fesseln": n. Private to "fesselt": t.
"fesseln" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "fesselt" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fesseln" for "fesselt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fesseln" or "fesselt"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fesseln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fesselt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,401,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fesseln" and "fesselt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fesselnd vs fesselt". 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 #1,401,871 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.