Which to use
“fossile” and “fossilen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,968
- “fossile” frequency rank
- #18,546
- “fossilen” frequency rank
- 40514
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fossile | fossilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fossil | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fossil |
Where the eye mixes fossile and fossilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. fossile runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against fossilen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fossile and fossilen
A purely visual mix-up. fossile ([fɔˈsiːlə]) and fossilen ([fɔˈsiːlən]) 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) - “fossile” sits inside “fossilen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fossile is recorded at frequency rank #21,968, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɔˈsiːlə]. fossilen is at rank #18,546, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɔˈsiːlən].
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 40514, this pair ranks #1,506,240 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fossile vs fossilen
Shared letters: efilos. Private to "fossile": -. Private to "fossilen": n.
"fossile" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "fossilen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fossile" for "fossilen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "fossile" or "fossilen" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fossile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fossilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,506,240 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fossile" and "fossilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fossile vs fossiler". 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 #1,506,240 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.