fragenvsframesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#312
“fragen” frequency rank
#32,531
“frames” frequency rank
32843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fragen frames
Definition eine Auskunft erbitten, um eine Auskunft bitten, eine Frage stellen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs frame

Where the eye mixes fragen and frames

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

6 ch
fragen
6 ch
frames

Why the eye confuses fragen with frames

A purely visual mix-up. fragen ([ˈfʁaːɡn̩]) and frames ([freɪms]) 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 32843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fragen is recorded at frequency rank #312, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁaːɡn̩]. frames is at rank #32,531, tagged as averb, pronounced [freɪms].

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 32843, this pair ranks #1,698,835 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fragen vs frames

Shared letters: aefr. Private to "fragen": gn. Private to "frames": ms.

"fragen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "frames" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fragenfargen · ffragen · fraegn · fragenn · fraggen · fragne · frgaen · frragen
  • framesfarmes · fframes · fraems · framess · frammes · framse · frmaes · frrames

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fragen" for "frames" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaːɡn̩] versus [freɪms]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fragen" vs "frames" - which ranks higher?
"fragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #312 in our German list, against #32,531 for "frames". 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 "fragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frames" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,698,835 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fragen" and "frames" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flame vs frames". 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 #1,698,835 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