Which to use
“free” is an adjective and “fried” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,313
- “free” frequency rank
- #23,137
- “fried” frequency rank
- 26450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | free | fried |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ohne eine Bezahlung zu verlangen; nicht mit Kosten verbunden | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs frieden |
Where the eye mixes free and fried
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses free with fried
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: free is [fɹiː] while fried is [fʁiːt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26450, 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]. fried is at rank #23,137, tagged as averb, pronounced [fʁiːt].
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 26450, this pair ranks #1,817,913 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of free vs fried
Shared letters: efr. Private to "free": -. Private to "fried": di.
"free" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "fried" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "free" and "fried" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "free" vs "fried" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "free" and "fried" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "free" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fried" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,817,913 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "free" and "fried" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fried 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 #1,817,913 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.