feinesvsfreiesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,051
“feines” frequency rank
#8,053
“freies” frequency rank
19104
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feines freies
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fein Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs frei

Where the eye mixes feines and freies

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. feines (CVVCVC) and freies (CCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
feines
6 ch
freies

Why the eye confuses feines with freies

A purely visual mix-up. feines ([ˈfaɪ̯nəs]) and freies ([ˈfʁaɪ̯əs]) 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 19104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feines is recorded at frequency rank #11,051, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nəs]. freies is at rank #8,053, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯əs].

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 19104, this pair ranks #1,911,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feines vs freies

Shared letters: efis. Private to "feines": n. Private to "freies": r.

"feines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "freies" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feines ← efines · feiens · feiness · feinnes · feinse · fenies · ffeines · fienes
  • freies ← feries · ffreies · freeis · freiess · freise · friees · frreies · rfeies

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feines" and "freies" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯nəs] versus [ˈfʁaɪ̯əs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feines" or "freies"?
"freies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,053 in our German list, against #11,051 for "feines". 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 "feines" and "freies" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,911,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feines" and "freies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freies vs Friese". 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 #1,911,794 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