Which to use
“frühen” is an adjective and “fühlen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,025
- “frühen” frequency rank
- #1,290
- “fühlen” frequency rank
- 3315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | frühen | fühlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs früh | per Tastsinn beziehungsweise allgemein über die Haut wahrnehmen oder erkunden |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set frühen and fühlen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: frühen is [ˈfʁyːən] while fühlen is [ˈfyːlən]. 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 3315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
frühen is recorded at frequency rank #2,025, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁyːən]. fühlen is at rank #1,290, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːlən].
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 3315, this pair ranks #2,000,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of frühen vs fühlen
Shared letters: efhnü. Private to "frühen": r. Private to "fühlen": l.
"frühen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "fühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "frühen" and "fühlen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "frühen" or "fühlen"?
Remembering frühen vs fühlen
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “frühen”; for a verb, it's “fühlen”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “frühen” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable