fellervsfewerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: feller is a noun, fewer is a determiner, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“feller” is a noun and “fewer” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,240
“feller” frequency rank
#4,236
“fewer” frequency rank
44476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feller fewer
Definition A person who fells trees; a lumberjack comparative degree of few; a smaller number.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feller and fewer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
feller
5 ch
fewer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: feller is anoun and feweradeterminer. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feller is recorded at frequency rank #40,240, classified as anoun. fewer is at rank #4,236, tagged as adet, pronounced /ˈfjuː.ɚ/.

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 44476, this pair ranks #230,176 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feller vs fewer

Shared letters: efr. Private to "feller": l. Private to "fewer": w.

"feller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fewer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fellerefller · felelr · feler · fellerr · fellre · ffeller · fleler
  • fewerefwer · feewr · fewerr · fewre · fewwer · ffewer · fweer

Frequency comparison

feller#40,240
fewer#4,236

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feller" and "fewer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feller" is a noun and "fewer" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "feller" or "fewer"?
"fewer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,236 in our English list, against #40,240 for "feller". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feller vs fewer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “feller”; for a determiner, it's “fewer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feller” 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