Which to use
“füllte” is a verb and “fünfte” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,341
- “füllte” frequency rank
- #6,062
- “fünfte” frequency rank
- 28403
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | füllte | fünfte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs füllen | nach dem beziehungsweise der vierten kommend; dem, der beziehungsweise des sechsten vorausgehend |
Where the eye mixes füllte and fünfte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. füllte and fünfte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between füllte and fünfte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: füllte is [ˈfʏltə] while fünfte is [ˈfʏnftə]. 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 num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
füllte is recorded at frequency rank #22,341, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʏltə]. fünfte is at rank #6,062, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈfʏnftə].
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 28403, this pair ranks #1,785,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of füllte vs fünfte
Shared letters: eftü. Private to "füllte": l. Private to "fünfte": n.
"füllte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "fünfte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "füllte" for "fünfte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "füllte" or "fünfte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "füllte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fünfte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,785,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "füllte" and "fünfte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filmte vs füllte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,785,396 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.