fieldvsfilsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,888
“field” frequency rank
#49,670
“fils” frequency rank
67558
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature field fils
Definition Feld, Acker männlicher Nachkomme: Sohn

Where the eye mixes field and fils

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. field runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against fils's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
field
4 ch
fils

Visual trap between field and fils

A purely visual mix-up. field ([fiːld]) and fils ([fis]) 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 67558, 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]. fils is at rank #49,670, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fis].

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 67558, this pair ranks #536,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of field vs fils

Shared letters: fil. Private to "field": de. Private to "fils": s.

"field" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "fils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • field ← feild · ffield · fiedl · fieldd · fielld · filed · ifeld
  • fils ← ffils · fills · filss · fisl · flis · ifls

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "field" for "fils" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fiːld] versus [fis]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "field" or "fils"?
"field" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,888 in our German list, against #49,670 for "fils". 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 "field" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #536,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "field" and "fils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fils 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 #536,220 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