Which to use
“Folien” is a noun and “foltern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,921
- “Folien” frequency rank
- #27,302
- “foltern” frequency rank
- 48223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Folien | foltern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Folia | jemandem (physisch oder psychisch) heftigen Schmerz zufügen |
Where the eye mixes Folien and foltern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Folien vs foltern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Folien is [foˈliːən] while foltern is [ˈfɔltɐn]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Folien is recorded at frequency rank #20,921, classified as anoun, pronounced [foˈliːən]. foltern is at rank #27,302, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfɔltɐn].
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 48223, this pair ranks #1,256,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Folien vs foltern
Shared letters: eflno. Private to "Folien": i. Private to "foltern": rt.
"Folien" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "foltern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Folien" for "foltern" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Folien" or "foltern" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Folien" and "foltern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Folien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foltern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,256,351 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Folien" and "foltern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Flyern vs foltern". 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 #1,256,351 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.