FiletvsflerConfusable pair

Quick tell: Filet is a noun, fler is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Filet” is a noun and “fler” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,889
“Filet” frequency rank
#32,036
“fler” frequency rank
80925
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Filet fler
Definition schmales, meist zartes Fleischstück von Rind, Schwein, Huhn oder entgrätetem Fisch mehr, eine größere Anzahl (als)

Where the eye mixes Filet and fler

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

5 ch
Filet
4 ch
fler

Why the eye confuses Filet with fler

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Filet is [fiˈleː] while fler is [ˈfleːr]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80925, 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]. fler is at rank #32,036, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfleːr].

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 80925, this pair ranks #185,797 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Filet vs fler

Shared letters: efl. Private to "Filet": it. Private to "fler": r.

"Filet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fler" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Filet ← ffilet · fielt · filett · fillet · filte · fliet · iflet
  • fler ← felr · ffler · flerr · fller · flre · lfer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Filet" and "fler" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Filet" is a noun and "fler" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Filet" or "fler" show up more?
"fler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,036 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Filet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #185,797 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Filet" and "fler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Filet 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 #185,797 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