fieldvsfriendWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,888
“field” frequency rank
#20,584
“friend” frequency rank
38472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature field friend
Definition Feld, Acker meist nicht zur Familie gehörende Person, die man gut kennt und die man mag, mit der man gern Umgang hat

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set field and friend apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
field
6 ch
friend

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. field ([fiːld]) and friend ([fɹɛnd]) 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 38472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

field is recorded at frequency rank #17,888, classified as anoun, pronounced [fiːld]. friend is at rank #20,584, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɹɛnd].

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 38472, this pair ranks #1,563,081 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of field vs friend

Shared letters: defi. Private to "field": l. Private to "friend": nr.

"field" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "friend" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fieldfeild · ffield · fiedl · fieldd · fielld · filed · ifeld
  • friendffriend · firend · freind · friedn · friendd · friennd · frined · frriend

Frequency comparison

field#17,888
friend#20,584

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "field" and "friend" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fiːld] versus [fɹɛnd]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "field" or "friend"?
"field" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,888 in our German list, against #20,584 for "friend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering field vs friend

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “field” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list