Which to use
“früh” is an adjective and “fühl” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,056
- “früh” frequency rank
- #6,428
- “fühl” frequency rank
- 7484
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | früh | fühl |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zeitlich am Anfang liegend, zum Beginn | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fühlen |
Where the eye mixes früh and fühl
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between früh and fühl
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: früh is [fʁyː] while fühl is [fyːl]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
früh is recorded at frequency rank #1,056, classified as anadj, pronounced [fʁyː]. fühl is at rank #6,428, tagged as averb, pronounced [fyːl].
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 7484, this pair ranks #1,987,987 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of früh vs fühl
Shared letters: fhü. Private to "früh": r. Private to "fühl": l.
"früh" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "fühl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "früh" for "fühl" ever safe?
Which is more common, "früh" or "fühl"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "früh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fühl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,987,987 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "früh" and "fühl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Föhr vs fühl". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,987,987 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.