fieldvsfielenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: field is a noun, fielen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“field” is a noun and “fielen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,888
“field” frequency rank
#5,081
“fielen” frequency rank
22969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature field fielen
Definition Feld, Acker 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fallen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set field and fielen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
field
6 ch
fielen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: field is [fiːld] while fielen is [ˈfiːlən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

field is recorded at frequency rank #17,888, classified as anoun, pronounced [fiːld]. fielen is at rank #5,081, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfiːlən].

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 22969, this pair ranks #1,867,398 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of field vs fielen

Shared letters: efil. Private to "field": d. Private to "fielen": n.

"field" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "fielen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fieldfeild · ffield · fiedl · fieldd · fielld · filed · ifeld
  • fielenffielen · fieeln · fielenn · fiellen · fielne · fileen · ifelen

Frequency comparison

field#17,888
fielen#5,081

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "field" and "fielen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "field" is a noun and "fielen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "field" or "fielen"?
"fielen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,081 in our German list, against #17,888 for "field". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering field vs fielen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “field”; for a verb, it's “fielen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “field” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list