fühlevsFunkeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fühle is a verb, Funke is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fühle” is a verb and “Funke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,921
“fühle” frequency rank
#15,361
“Funke” frequency rank
17282
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fühle Funke
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fühlen kleines, in der Luft verbrennendes glühendes Teilchen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fühle and Funke apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fühle
5 ch
Funke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fühle is [ˈfyːlə] while Funke is [ˈfʊŋkə]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fühle is recorded at frequency rank #1,921, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːlə]. Funke is at rank #15,361, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʊŋkə].

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 17282, this pair ranks #1,928,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fühle vs Funke

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fühle": hlü. Private to "Funke": knu.

"fühle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Funke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Funkeffunke · fnuke · fukne · funek · funkke · funnke · ufnke

Frequency comparison

fühle#1,921
Funke#15,361

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fühle" and "Funke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fühle" is a verb and "Funke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fühle" or "Funke"?
"fühle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,921 in our German list, against #15,361 for "Funke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fühle vs Funke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fühle”; for a noun, it's “Funke”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fühle” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list