fragvsfragenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,498
“frag” frequency rank
#312
“fragen” frequency rank
2810
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frag fragen
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs fragen eine Auskunft erbitten, um eine Auskunft bitten, eine Frage stellen

Where the eye mixes frag and fragen

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

4 ch
frag
6 ch
fragen

Look-alike desk: frag vs fragen

A purely visual mix-up. frag ([fʁaːk]) and fragen ([ˈfʁaːɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “frag” sits inside “fragen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frag is recorded at frequency rank #2,498, classified as averb, pronounced [fʁaːk]. fragen is at rank #312, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁaːɡn̩].

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 2810, this pair ranks #2,001,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of frag vs fragen

Shared letters: afgr. Private to "frag": -. Private to "fragen": en.

"frag" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "fragen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fragfarg · ffrag · fragg · frga · frrag · rfag
  • fragenfargen · ffragen · fraegn · fragenn · fraggen · fragne · frgaen · frragen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "frag" and "fragen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fʁaːk] versus [ˈfʁaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "frag" or "fragen" show up more?
"fragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #312 in our German list, against #2,498 for "frag". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "frag" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "frag" and "fragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fay vs frag". 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 #2,001,529 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