GefühlvsgeführtTell them apart

Quick tell: Gefühl is a noun, geführt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gefühl” is a noun and “geführt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#762
“Gefühl” frequency rank
#1,197
“geführt” frequency rank
1959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefühl geführt
Definition das subjektive Erleben von Erregung und hirnchemischer Aktivität Partizip Perfekt des Verbs führen

Where the eye mixes Gefühl and geführt

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

6 ch
Gefühl
7 ch
geführt

Why the eye confuses Gefühl with geführt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gefühl is [ɡəˈfyːl] while geführt is [ɡəˈfyːɐ̯t]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefühl is recorded at frequency rank #762, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfyːl]. geführt is at rank #1,197, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfyːɐ̯t].

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 1959, this pair ranks #2,003,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gefühl vs geführt

Shared letters: efghü. Private to "Gefühl": l. Private to "geführt": rt.

"Gefühl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "geführt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gefühl" for "geführt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gefühl" is a noun and "geführt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Gefühl" or "geführt" show up more?
"Gefühl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #762 in our German list, against #1,197 for "geführt". 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 "Gefühl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geführt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,003,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gefühl" and "geführt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gefühls vs geführt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #2,003,386 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