Which to use
“free” and “freie” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,313
- “free” frequency rank
- #1,257
- “freie” frequency rank
- 4570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | free | freie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ohne eine Bezahlung zu verlangen; nicht mit Kosten verbunden | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs frei |
Where the eye mixes free and freie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between free and freie
A purely visual mix-up. free ([fɹiː]) and freie ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ə]) 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 4570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
free is recorded at frequency rank #3,313, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɹiː]. freie is at rank #1,257, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ə].
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 4570, this pair ranks #1,997,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of free vs freie
Shared letters: efr. Private to "free": -. Private to "freie": i.
"free" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "freie" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "free" and "freie" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "free" or "freie"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "free" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "freie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,997,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "free" and "freie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "free vs friere". 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 #1,997,354 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.