feindlichenvsfriedlichenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,622
“feindlichen” frequency rank
#9,905
“friedlichen” frequency rank
25527
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feindlichen friedlichen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs feindlich Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs friedlich

Where the eye mixes feindlichen and friedlichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. feindlichen (CVVCCCVCCVC) and friedlichen (CCVVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
feindlichen
11 ch
friedlichen

Why the eye confuses feindlichen with friedlichen

A purely visual mix-up. feindlichen ([ˈfaɪ̯ntlɪçn̩]) and friedlichen ([ˈfʁiːtlɪçn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feindlichen is recorded at frequency rank #15,622, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯ntlɪçn̩]. friedlichen is at rank #9,905, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁiːtlɪçn̩].

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 25527, this pair ranks #1,831,906 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feindlichen vs friedlichen

Shared letters: cdefhiln. Private to "feindlichen": -. Private to "friedlichen": r.

"feindlichen" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCCVCCVC  ·  "friedlichen" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feindlichenefindlichen · feidnlichen · feinddlichen · feindilchen · feindlcihen · feindlicchen · feindlicehn · feindlichenn
  • friedlichenffriedlichen · firedlichen · freidlichen · fridelichen · frieddlichen · friedilchen · friedlcihen · friedlicchen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "feindlichen" for "friedlichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯ntlɪçn̩] versus [ˈfʁiːtlɪçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "feindlichen" vs "friedlichen" - which ranks higher?
"friedlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,905 in our German list, against #15,622 for "feindlichen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "feindlichen" and "friedlichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feindlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "friedlichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,831,906 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feindlichen" and "friedlichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feindlichen 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 #1,831,906 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