GefühlevsgefüllteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,339
“Gefühle” frequency rank
#15,889
“gefüllte” frequency rank
18228
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gefühle gefüllte
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Gefühl Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gefüllt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Gefühle and gefüllte apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Gefühle
8 ch
gefüllte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gefühle is [ɡəˈfyːlə] 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gefühle is recorded at frequency rank #2,339, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈfyːlə]. 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 18228, this pair ranks #1,920,236 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Gefühle vs gefüllte

Shared letters: efglü. Private to "Gefühle": h. Private to "gefüllte": t.

"Gefühle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "gefüllte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Frequency comparison

Gefühle#2,339
gefüllte#15,889

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gefühle" and "gefüllte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gefühle" is a noun and "gefüllte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gefühle" or "gefüllte"?
"Gefühle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,339 in our German list, against #15,889 for "gefüllte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Gefühle vs gefüllte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Gefühle”; for an adjective, it's “gefüllte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Gefühle” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list