How do you say Mistake or Error in German?

A typo, a miscalculation, a wrong turn, or a life decision you regret - Germans call it a Fehler. Whether it’s technical or emotional, accidental or repeated, this is the word that covers it all.

The noun Fehler means mistake, error, or fault, and it’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German. You’ll see it in homework corrections, software bug reports, and everyday conversation.

It’s a masculine noun, so we say der Fehler.

Pronunciation

Fehler is pronounced [ˈfeːlɐ], roughly "FAY-luh."

• The “Feh” rhymes with “may,”
• The “ler” commonly ends in a reduced vowel, roughly “luh"; regional r pronunciations also occur.
• The stress is on the first syllable: FEH-ler.

It sounds gentle, almost forgiving - which is nice, because we all make them.

Example sentences:

• Der Fehler lag nicht bei dir.The mistake wasn’t your fault.
• Ich habe einen kleinen Fehler in der Rechnung entdeckt.I found a small error in the invoice.

Nuance and usage tips

Fehler is an all-purpose word for things gone wrong, in any area of life:

1. Technical / factual error
   • Rechenfehler - calculation error
   • Tippfehler - typo
   • Systemfehler - system error
2. Human mistake / misjudgment
   • einen Fehler machen - to make a mistake
   • Fehler zugeben - to admit a mistake
   • aus Fehlern lernen - to learn from mistakes
3. Defect / flaw
   • Konstruktionsfehler - design flaw
   • Produktionsfehler - manufacturing defect

Useful contrasts include:

• For mistake: Richtigkeit (correctness, feminine) or Treffer (a hit/correct answer, masculine)
• For flaw: Perfektion (perfection)

Grammatical case examples: