füllenvsfüllteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,171
“füllen” frequency rank
#22,341
“füllte” frequency rank
27512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature füllen füllte
Definition einen Behälter voll machen, eine Aushöhlung stopfen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs füllen

Where the eye mixes füllen and füllte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
füllen
6 ch
füllte

Look-alike desk: füllen vs füllte

A purely visual mix-up. füllen ([ˈfʏlən]) and füllte ([ˈfʏltə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

füllen is recorded at frequency rank #5,171, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏlən]. füllte is at rank #22,341, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏltə].

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 27512, this pair ranks #1,800,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of füllen vs füllte

Shared letters: eflü. Private to "füllen": n. Private to "füllte": t.

"füllen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "füllte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "füllen" and "füllte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʏlən] versus [ˈfʏltə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "füllen" vs "füllte" - which ranks higher?
"füllen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,171 in our German list, against #22,341 for "füllte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "füllen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "füllte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,800,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "füllen" and "füllte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filmte vs füllte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,800,557 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