filvsFiletWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,176
“fil” frequency rank
#48,889
“Filet” frequency rank
92065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fil Filet
Definition mächtiges Säugetier mit Rüssel und Stoßzähnen; Elefant schmales, meist zartes Fleischstück von Rind, Schwein, Huhn oder entgrätetem Fisch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fil and Filet apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
fil
5 ch
Filet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fil ([fiɫ]) and Filet ([fiˈleː]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fil” sits inside “Filet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fil is recorded at frequency rank #43,176, classified as anoun, pronounced [fiɫ]. Filet is at rank #48,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fiˈleː].

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 92065, this pair ranks #32,742 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fil vs Filet

Shared letters: fil. Private to "fil": -. Private to "Filet": et.

"fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Filet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Filetffilet · fielt · filett · fillet · filte · fliet · iflet

Frequency comparison

fil#43,176
Filet#48,889

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fil" and "Filet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fiɫ] versus [fiˈleː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fil" or "Filet"?
"fil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,176 in our German list, against #48,889 for "Filet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fil vs Filet

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fil” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list