flervsfreiTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,036
“fler” frequency rank
#544
“frei” frequency rank
32580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fler frei
Definition mehr, eine größere Anzahl (als) unabhängig, nicht gefangen, nicht versklavt

Where the eye mixes fler and frei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fler
4 ch
frei

Visual trap between fler and frei

A purely visual mix-up. fler ([ˈfleːr]) and frei ([fʁaɪ̯]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fler is recorded at frequency rank #32,036, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfleːr]. frei is at rank #544, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fʁaɪ̯].

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 32580, this pair ranks #1,704,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fler vs frei

Shared letters: efr. Private to "fler": l. Private to "frei": i.

"fler" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "frei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flerfelr · ffler · flerr · fller · flre · lfer
  • freiferi · ffrei · frie · frrei · rfei

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fler" and "frei" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfleːr] versus [fʁaɪ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fler" or "frei"?
"frei" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #544 in our German list, against #32,036 for "fler". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,704,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fler" and "frei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fler vs Flyern". 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 #1,704,612 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