fiesvsfrissWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fies is a adjective, friss is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fies” is an adjective and “friss” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,292
“fies” frequency rank
#43,886
“friss” frequency rank
61178
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fies friss
Definition Ekel erregend unangenehm 2. Person Singular Präsens Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs fressen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fies and friss apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
fies
5 ch
friss

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

fies and friss form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fies is recorded at frequency rank #17,292, classified as anadj, pronounced [fiːs]. friss is at rank #43,886, tagged as averb, pronounced [fʁɪs].

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 61178, this pair ranks #759,440 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

fies#17,292
friss#43,886

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fies" and "friss" be used interchangeably?
No, "fies" and "friss" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering fies vs friss

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fies”; for a verb, it's “friss”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fies” 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