fühlvsfühlenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,428
“fühl” frequency rank
#1,290
“fühlen” frequency rank
7718
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fühl fühlen
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fühlen per Tastsinn beziehungsweise allgemein über die Haut wahrnehmen oder erkunden

Where the eye mixes fühl and fühlen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fühl runs 4 letters (CVCC) against fühlen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
fühl
6 ch
fühlen

Look-alike desk: fühl vs fühlen

A purely visual mix-up. fühl ([fyːl]) and fühlen ([ˈfyːlən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fühl” sits inside “fühlen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7718, 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]. 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 7718, this pair ranks #1,987,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fühl vs fühlen

Shared letters: fhlü. Private to "fühl": -. Private to "fühlen": en.

"fühl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fühl" and "fühlen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fyːl] versus [ˈfyːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fühl" or "fühlen"?
"fühlen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,290 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "fühl" and "fühlen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fühl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fühlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,987,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fühl" and "fühlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Föhr vs fühl". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,987,160 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list