barrierefreivsbarrierefreieTell them apart

Which to use

“barrierefrei” and “barrierefreie” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,895
“barrierefrei” frequency rank
#37,385
“barrierefreie” frequency rank
59280
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barrierefrei barrierefreie
Definition frei von Hindernissen, so dass sich jedermann, insbesondere behinderte Menschen, ungehindert bewegen kann Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs barrierefrei

Where the eye mixes barrierefrei and barrierefreie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. barrierefrei runs 12 letters (CVCCVVCVCCVV) against barrierefreie's 13 (CVCCVVCVCCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
barrierefrei
13 ch
barrierefreie

Visual trap between barrierefrei and barrierefreie

A purely visual mix-up. barrierefrei ([baˈʁi̯eːʁəˌfʁaɪ̯]) and barrierefreie ([baˈʁi̯eːʁəˌfʁaɪ̯ə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “barrierefrei” sits inside “barrierefreie”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barrierefrei is recorded at frequency rank #21,895, classified as anadj, pronounced [baˈʁi̯eːʁəˌfʁaɪ̯]. barrierefreie is at rank #37,385, tagged as anadj, pronounced [baˈʁi̯eːʁəˌfʁaɪ̯ə].

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 59280, this pair ranks #830,416 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of barrierefrei vs barrierefreie

Shared letters: abefir. Private to "barrierefrei": -. Private to "barrierefreie": -.

"barrierefrei" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCCVV  ·  "barrierefreie" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barrierefrei ← abrrierefrei · barierefrei · barirerefrei · barreirefrei · barrieerfrei · barriereferi · barriereffrei · barrierefrie
  • barrierefreie ← abrrierefreie · barierefreie · barirerefreie · barreirefreei · barreirefreie · barrieerfreie · barriereferie · barriereffreie

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barrierefrei" and "barrierefreie" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baˈʁi̯eːʁəˌfʁaɪ̯] versus [baˈʁi̯eːʁəˌfʁaɪ̯ə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "barrierefrei" or "barrierefreie" show up more?
"barrierefrei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,895 in our German list, against #37,385 for "barrierefreie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "barrierefrei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "barrierefreie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #830,416 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barrierefrei" and "barrierefreie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "barrierefreie vs barrierefreien". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #830,416 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list