freevsFriedeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: free is a adjective, Friede is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“free” is an adjective and “Friede” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,313
“free” frequency rank
#13,142
“Friede” frequency rank
16455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature free Friede
Definition ohne eine Bezahlung zu verlangen; nicht mit Kosten verbunden Frieden

Where the eye mixes free and Friede

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

4 ch
free
6 ch
Friede

Why the eye confuses free with Friede

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: free is [fɹiː] while Friede is [ˈfʁiːdə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16455, 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]. Friede is at rank #13,142, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁiːdə].

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 16455, this pair ranks #1,935,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of free vs Friede

Shared letters: efr. Private to "free": -. Private to "Friede": di.

"free" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "Friede" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freefere · ffree · fre · frree · rfee
  • Friedeffriede · firede · freide · fridee · friedde · frieed · frriede · rfiede

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "free" and "Friede" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "free" is an adjective and "Friede" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "free" vs "Friede" - which ranks higher?
"free" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,313 in our German list, against #13,142 for "Friede". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "Friede" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,935,709 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "free" and "Friede" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Friede 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 #1,935,709 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