fehlen

/[ˈfeːlən]/ verb

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#1,415

in German word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

fehlen is aGermanverb. It means: nicht vorhanden sein Pronounced [ˈfeːlən]. It ranks #1,415 in German word frequency. Often confused with fehlt and fühle.

Key facts for fehlen
PropertyValue
Headwordfehlen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈfeːlən]
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,415
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of fehlen in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for fehlen is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈfeːlən]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,415 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for fehlen, with forms such as "efhlen", "feheln", and "fehhlen". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fehlt", "fühle", "Felle", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is fehlen, spelled F-E-H-L-E-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    nicht vorhanden sein
  2. 2
    falsch handeln, sich irren

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: efhlen,feheln,fehhlen,fehlenn,fehllen,fehlne,felhen,ffehlen,fhelen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for fehlen

Misspelling Variants of "fehlen"

efhlen6feheln6fehhlen7fehlenn7fehllen7fehlne6felhen6ffehlen7
Misspelling Variants of "fehlen"

Frequency rank: #1,415 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fehlen"?
"fehlen" is spelled F-E-H-L-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈfeːlən].
What does "fehlen" mean?
As a verb, "fehlen" means: nicht vorhanden sein
What words are commonly confused with "fehlen"?
"fehlen" is commonly confused with "fehlt", "fühle", "Felle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fehlen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fehlen" is [ˈfeːlən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fehlen" come from?
"fehlen" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.