FiletvsfilsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,889
“Filet” frequency rank
#49,670
“fils” frequency rank
98559
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Filet fils
Definition schmales, meist zartes Fleischstück von Rind, Schwein, Huhn oder entgrätetem Fisch männlicher Nachkomme: Sohn

Where the eye mixes Filet and fils

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

5 ch
Filet
4 ch
fils

Look-alike desk: Filet vs fils

A purely visual mix-up. Filet ([fiˈleː]) 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 98559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Filet is recorded at frequency rank #48,889, classified as anoun, pronounced [fiˈleː]. 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 98559, this pair ranks #1,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Filet vs fils

Shared letters: fil. Private to "Filet": et. Private to "fils": s.

"Filet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Filet ← ffilet · fielt · filett · fillet · filte · fliet · iflet
  • fils ← ffils · fills · filss · fisl · flis · ifls

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Filet" and "fils" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fiˈleː] versus [fis]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Filet" vs "fils" - which ranks higher?
"Filet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,889 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 "Filet" 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 #1,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Filet" 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 #1,195 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