GefällevsGefühleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,228
“Gefälle” frequency rank
#2,339
“Gefühle” frequency rank
21567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefälle Gefühle
Definition der Grad der Neigung einer Straße oder eines Geländes Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Gefühl

Where the eye mixes Gefälle and Gefühle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Gefälle and Gefühle follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
Gefälle
7 ch
Gefühle

Look-alike desk: Gefälle vs Gefühle

A purely visual mix-up. Gefälle ([ɡəˈfɛlə]) and Gefühle ([ɡəˈfyːlə]) 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 21567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefälle is recorded at frequency rank #19,228, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛlə]. Gefühle is at rank #2,339, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfyːlə].

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 21567, this pair ranks #1,884,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gefälle vs Gefühle

Shared letters: efgl. Private to "Gefälle": ä. Private to "Gefühle": hü.

"Gefälle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "Gefühle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gefälle" for "Gefühle" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈfɛlə] versus [ɡəˈfyːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gefälle" or "Gefühle" show up more?
"Gefühle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,339 in our German list, against #19,228 for "Gefälle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefälle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gefühle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,884,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefälle" and "Gefühle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefälle vs Gefilde". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,884,743 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