Which to use
“fies” is an adjective and “fils” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,292
- “fies” frequency rank
- #49,670
- “fils” frequency rank
- 66962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fies | fils |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ekel erregend unangenehm | männlicher Nachkomme: Sohn |
Same sound, different letters: fies vs fils
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. fies (CVVC) and fils (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Same sound, different spelling - fies / fils
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: fies and fils carry the same recorded pronunciation, [fiːs]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “fies” becomes l in “fils”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fies is recorded at frequency rank #17,292, classified as anadj, pronounced [fiːs]. 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 66962, this pair ranks #555,867 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fies vs fils
Shared letters: fis. Private to "fies": e. Private to "fils": l.
"fies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fies" and "fils" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fies" vs "fils" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "fies" / "fils". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "fies" 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 #555,867 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fies" 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 #555,867 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.