Which to use
“fil” is a noun and “fire” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,176
- “fil” frequency rank
- #7,171
- “fire” frequency rank
- 50347
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fil | fire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mächtiges Säugetier mit Rüssel und Stoßzähnen; Elefant | vier |
Where the eye mixes fil and fire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fil and fire
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fil is [fiɫ] while fire is [ˈfiːɔ]. 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 num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50347, 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]. fire is at rank #7,171, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈfiːɔ].
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 50347, this pair ranks #1,177,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fil vs fire
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fil": l. Private to "fire": er.
"fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fire ← ffire · fier · firre · ifre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fil" for "fire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fil" vs "fire" - which ranks higher?
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 "fil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,177,161 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fil" and "fire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil 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 #1,177,161 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.