FiltervsFilternConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,945
“Filter” frequency rank
#17,889
“Filtern” frequency rank
23834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Filter Filtern
Definition Material zur Trennung oder Aussonderung bestimmter Substanzen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Filter

Where the eye mixes Filter and Filtern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Filter
7 ch
Filtern

Why the eye confuses Filter with Filtern

A purely visual mix-up. Filter ([ˈfɪltɐ]) and Filtern ([ˈfɪltɐn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Filter” sits inside “Filtern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Filter is recorded at frequency rank #5,945, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɪltɐ]. Filtern is at rank #17,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɪltɐn].

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 23834, this pair ranks #1,856,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Filter vs Filtern

Shared letters: efilrt. Private to "Filter": -. Private to "Filtern": n.

"Filter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Filtern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Filterffilter · filetr · fillter · filterr · filtre · filtter · fitler · fliter
  • Filternffiltern · filetrn · filltern · filtenr · filternn · filterrn · filtren · filttern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Filter" and "Filtern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfɪltɐ] versus [ˈfɪltɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Filter" vs "Filtern" - which ranks higher?
"Filter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,945 in our German list, against #17,889 for "Filtern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Filter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Filtern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,856,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Filter" and "Filtern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Filtern vs Flyern". 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 #1,856,014 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