fehlen
[ˈfeːlən]
The verdict
“fehlen” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #1,415. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,415
- frequency rank, German
- 3,474
- “F” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - nicht vorhanden sein
Corpus desk
Index DE-fehlen · fehlen · German
fehlen · rank #1,415 · 9 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,415
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,474
- PHOTO-FINISH FDP
Nearest frequency peer: FDP (-1 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “fehlen”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Damen
Damen
98,590 corpus weight
- Diskussion
Diskussion
98,589 corpus weight
- entschieden
entschieden
98,588 corpus weight
- FDP
FDP
98,587 corpus weight
- fehlen
fehlen
98,586 corpus weight
- gehalten
gehalten
98,582 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “fehlen” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fehlen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈfeːlən] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,415 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fehlen” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around fehlen (IPA [ˈfeːlən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,415 among 3,474 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for fehlen, with forms such as "efhlen", "feheln", and "fehhlen". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fehlt", "fühle", "Felle", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is fehlen, spelled F-E-H-L-E-N.
Definition
- 1nicht vorhanden sein
- 2falsch handeln, sich irren
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fehlen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Du fehlst mir.
Doch an Blumen fehlt's im Revier. (Goethe, Faust I)
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- efhlen
- feheln
- fehhlen
- fehlenn
- fehllen
- fehlne
- felhen
- ffehlen
- fhelen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fehlen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "fehlen"?
What does "fehlen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "fehlen"?
How do you pronounce "fehlen"?
What language does "fehlen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fehlen", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "fehlen". Here's where to go from here.
- "fehlen" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "fehlt". View pair
- 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #1,415 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more German words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.