Which to use
“feine” and “freie” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,261
- “feine” frequency rank
- #1,257
- “freie” frequency rank
- 6518
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feine | freie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs fein | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs frei |
Where the eye mixes feine and freie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses feine with freie
A purely visual mix-up. feine ([ˈfaɪ̯nə]) and freie ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feine is recorded at frequency rank #5,261, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nə]. 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 6518, this pair ranks #1,991,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feine vs freie
Shared letters: efi. Private to "feine": n. Private to "freie": r.
"feine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "freie" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "feine" and "freie" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "feine" vs "freie" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "feine" 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 #1,991,353 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feine" and "freie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feine 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 #1,991,353 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.