flehenvsfliehenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,536
“flehen” frequency rank
#6,060
“fliehen” frequency rank
46596
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flehen fliehen
Definition emotional, stark untersetzt, bei jemandem um etwas bitten schnelles Verlassen eines Ortes beispielsweise aufgrund befürchteter Gefahr

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flehen and fliehen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
flehen
7 ch
fliehen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flehen ([ˈfleːən]) and fliehen ([ˈfliːən]) 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 46596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flehen is recorded at frequency rank #40,536, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfleːən]. fliehen is at rank #6,060, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfliːən].

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 46596, this pair ranks #1,313,685 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of flehen vs fliehen

Shared letters: efhln. Private to "flehen": -. Private to "fliehen": i.

"flehen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "fliehen" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flehenfflehen · fleehn · flehenn · flehhen · flehne · flheen · fllehen · lfehen
  • fliehenffliehen · filehen · fleihen · flieehn · fliehenn · fliehhen · fliehne · fliheen

Frequency comparison

flehen#40,536
fliehen#6,060

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flehen" and "fliehen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfleːən] versus [ˈfliːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flehen" or "fliehen"?
"fliehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,060 in our German list, against #40,536 for "flehen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering flehen vs fliehen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “flehen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list