Which to use
“fühlten” is a verb and “fünften” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,711
- “fühlten” frequency rank
- #4,432
- “fünften” frequency rank
- 17143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fühlten | fünften |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs fühlen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum des Numerals fünfte |
Where the eye mixes fühlten and fünften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fühlten and fünften follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses fühlten with fünften
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fühlten is [ˈfyːltn̩] while fünften is [ˈfʏnftn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17143, 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]. fünften is at rank #4,432, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈfʏnftn̩].
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 17143, this pair ranks #1,929,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fühlten vs fünften
Shared letters: efntü. Private to "fühlten": hl. Private to "fünften": -.
"fühlten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "fünften" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fühlten" for "fünften" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "fühlten" or "fünften" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fühlten" and "fünften" 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 "fünften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,929,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fühlten" and "fünften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fügten vs fühlten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,929,997 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.