Which to use
“fühlten” and “führen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,711
- “fühlten” frequency rank
- #634
- “führen” frequency rank
- 13345
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fühlten | führen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fühlen | in eine Richtung geleiten, zum Beispiel, indem man nahe neben jemandem geht oder ihn sogar dabei berührt und ihm hilft einen Weg zu finden, den er sonst schwer hätte zu finden |
Where the eye mixes fühlten and führen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fühlten runs 7 letters (CVCCCVC) against führen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fühlten and führen
A purely visual mix-up. fühlten ([ˈfyːltn̩]) and führen ([ˈfyːʁən]) 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 13345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fühlten is recorded at frequency rank #12,711, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːltn̩]. führen is at rank #634, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfyːʁən].
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 13345, this pair ranks #1,958,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fühlten vs führen
Shared letters: efhnü. Private to "fühlten": lt. Private to "führen": r.
"fühlten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "führen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fühlten" and "führen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "fühlten" or "führen" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fühlten" and "führen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fühlten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "führen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,958,581 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fühlten" and "führen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fügten vs fühlten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,958,581 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.