FeuervsfreueConfusable pair

Quick tell: Feuer is a noun, freue is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Feuer” is a noun and “freue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,477
“Feuer” frequency rank
#2,058
“freue” frequency rank
3535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Feuer freue
Definition Flammenbildung bei der Verbrennung unter Abgabe von Wärme und Licht 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs freuen

Where the eye mixes Feuer and freue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Feuer
5 ch
freue

Why the eye confuses Feuer with freue

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feuer is [ˈfɔɪ̯ɐ] while freue is [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3535, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Feuer is recorded at frequency rank #1,477, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɔɪ̯ɐ]. freue is at rank #2,058, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ə].

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 3535, this pair ranks #1,999,992 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Feuer vs freue

Shared letters: efru. Private to "Feuer": -. Private to "freue": -.

"Feuer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "freue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Feuerefuer · feeur · feuerr · feure · ffeuer · fueer
  • freueferue · ffreue · freeu · frreue · fruee · rfeue

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Feuer" and "freue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Feuer" is a noun and "freue" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Feuer" or "freue"?
"Feuer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,477 in our German list, against #2,058 for "freue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Feuer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,999,992 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Feuer" and "freue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freue vs friere". 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 #1,999,992 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