Which to use
“Feige” is a noun and “freie” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,425
- “Feige” frequency rank
- #1,257
- “freie” frequency rank
- 12682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Feige | freie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | essbare, süße, fleischige Frucht des Feigenbaums | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs frei |
Where the eye mixes Feige and freie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Feige with freie
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feige is [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə] while freie is [ˈfʁaɪ̯ə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Feige is recorded at frequency rank #11,425, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ɡə]. freie is at rank #1,257, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ə].
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 12682, this pair ranks #1,962,697 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Feige vs freie
Shared letters: efi. Private to "Feige": g. Private to "freie": r.
"Feige" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "freie" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Feige" and "freie" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Feige" or "freie"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Feige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "freie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,962,697 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Feige" and "freie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Feige vs Felge". 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 #1,962,697 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.