feindlichevsfreundlicheTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,145
“feindliche” frequency rank
#8,864
“freundliche” frequency rank
25009
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feindliche freundliche
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs feindlich Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs freundlich

Where the eye mixes feindliche and freundliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. feindliche runs 10 letters (CVVCCCVCCV) against freundliche's 11 (CCVVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
feindliche
11 ch
freundliche

Visual trap between feindliche and freundliche

A purely visual mix-up. feindliche ([ˈfaɪ̯ntlɪçə]) and freundliche ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçə]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feindliche is recorded at frequency rank #16,145, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ntlɪçə]. freundliche is at rank #8,864, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçə].

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 25009, this pair ranks #1,839,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feindliche vs freundliche

Shared letters: cdefhiln. Private to "feindliche": -. Private to "freundliche": ru.

"feindliche" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCCVCCV  ·  "freundliche" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feindliche ← efindliche · feidnliche · feinddliche · feindilche · feindlcihe · feindlicche · feindliceh · feindlichhe
  • freundliche ← ferundliche · ffreundliche · frenudliche · freudnliche · freunddliche · freundilche · freundlcihe · freundlicche

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "feindliche" for "freundliche" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯ntlɪçə] versus [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feindliche" or "freundliche"?
"freundliche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,864 in our German list, against #16,145 for "feindliche". 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 "feindliche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freundliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,839,436 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feindliche" and "freundliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feindliche vs feindliches". 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 #1,839,436 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