gefälltvsgefüllteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: gefällt is a verb, gefüllte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gefällt” is a verb and “gefüllte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#991
“gefällt” frequency rank
#15,889
“gefüllte” frequency rank
16880
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gefällt gefüllte
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs fällen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefüllt

Where the eye mixes gefällt and gefüllte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gefällt runs 7 letters (CVCVCCC) against gefüllte's 8 (CVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gefällt
8 ch
gefüllte

Look-alike desk: gefällt vs gefüllte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gefällt is [ɡəˈfɛlt] while gefüllte is [ɡəˈfʏltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16880, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gefällt is recorded at frequency rank #991, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfɛlt]. gefüllte is at rank #15,889, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈfʏltə].

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 16880, this pair ranks #1,932,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gefällt vs gefüllte

Shared letters: efglt. Private to "gefällt": ä. Private to "gefüllte": ü.

"gefällt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "gefüllte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gefällt" and "gefüllte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gefällt" is a verb and "gefüllte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gefällt" or "gefüllte"?
"gefällt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #991 in our German list, against #15,889 for "gefüllte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gefällt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefüllte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,932,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gefällt" and "gefüllte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gefüllte vs gewollte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,932,234 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