fol vs folgt, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#34,656
“fol” frequency rank: #1,077
“folgt” frequency rank: 35733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fol	folgt
Definition	2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Nichtadmirativ Aktiv des Verbs flas ‚sprechen, reden‘	3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs folgen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fol and folgt apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

fol

5 ch

folgt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

fol and folgt are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “fol” sits inside “folgt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fol is recorded at frequency rank #34,656, classified as averb, pronounced […]. folgt is at rank #1,077, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɔlkt].

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 35733, this pair ranks #1,632,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fol vs folgt

Shared letters: flo. Private to "fol": -. Private to "folgt": gt.

"fol" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "folgt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

folgt ← ffolgt · flogt · foglt · folggt · folgtt · follgt · foltg · oflgt

Frequency comparison

fol#34,656

folgt#1,077

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fol" and "folgt" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “fol” sits inside “folgt”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "fol" or "folgt"?

"folgt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,077 in our German list, against #34,656 for "fol". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fol vs folgt

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 “fol” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable