Which to use
“fils” and “fish” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,670
- “fils” frequency rank
- #18,543
- “fish” frequency rank
- 68213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fils | fish |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | männlicher Nachkomme: Sohn | Fisch |
Where the eye mixes fils and fish
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fils and fish
A purely visual mix-up. fils ([fis]) and fish ([ˈfɪʃ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fils is recorded at frequency rank #49,670, classified as anoun, pronounced [fis]. fish is at rank #18,543, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɪʃ].
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 68213, this pair ranks #515,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fils vs fish
Shared letters: fis. Private to "fils": l. Private to "fish": h.
"fils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fish" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fils" for "fish" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fils" or "fish"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "fils" and "fish" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fils" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fish" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fils" and "fish" 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 #515,088 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.