Which to use
“fil” is a noun and “fis” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,176
- “fil” frequency rank
- #26,408
- “fis” frequency rank
- 69584
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fil | fis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mächtiges Säugetier mit Rüssel und Stoßzähnen; Elefant | 1. Person Singulra Indikativ historisches Perfekt Aktiv des Verbs faire |
Where the eye mixes fil and fis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fil and fis follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between fil and fis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fil is [fiɫ] while fis is [fi]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “fil” becomes s in “fis”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69584, 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]. fis is at rank #26,408, tagged as averb, pronounced [fi].
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 69584, this pair ranks #472,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fil vs fis
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fil": l. Private to "fis": s.
"fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fil" for "fis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fil" vs "fis" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #472,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fil" and "fis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil vs fist". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #472,141 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.