fühltevsfülltenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,119
“fühlte” frequency rank
#32,541
“füllten” frequency rank
36660
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fühlte füllten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fühlen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs füllen

Where the eye mixes fühlte and füllten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fühlte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against füllten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fühlte
7 ch
füllten

Visual trap between fühlte and füllten

A purely visual mix-up. fühlte ([ˈfyːltə]) and füllten ([ˈfʏltn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36660, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fühlte is recorded at frequency rank #4,119, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːltə]. füllten is at rank #32,541, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏltn̩].

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 36660, this pair ranks #1,609,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fühlte vs füllten

Shared letters: efltü. Private to "fühlte": h. Private to "füllten": n.

"fühlte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "füllten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fühlte" for "füllten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfyːltə] versus [ˈfʏltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fühlte" or "füllten"?
"fühlte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,119 in our German list, against #32,541 for "füllten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fühlte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "füllten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,609,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fühlte" and "füllten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fügten vs füllten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,609,909 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