fühlvsfühleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,428
“fühl” frequency rank
#1,921
“fühle” frequency rank
8349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fühl fühle
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fühlen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fühlen

Where the eye mixes fühl and fühle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fühl
5 ch
fühle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fühl ([fyːl]) and fühle ([ˈfyːlə]) 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) - “fühl” sits inside “fühle”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fühl is recorded at frequency rank #6,428, classified as averb, pronounced [fyːl]. fühle is at rank #1,921, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːlə].

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 8349, this pair ranks #1,984,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fühl vs fühle

Shared letters: fhlü. Private to "fühl": -. Private to "fühle": e.

"fühl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fühle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fühl" and "fühle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fyːl] versus [ˈfyːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fühl" or "fühle"?
"fühle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,921 in our German list, against #6,428 for "fühl". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "fühl" and "fühle". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fühl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fühle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,984,636 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fühl" and "fühle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Föhr vs fühl". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list