Which to use
“frei” and “freies” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #544
- “frei” frequency rank
- #8,053
- “freies” frequency rank
- 8597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | frei | freies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unabhängig, nicht gefangen, nicht versklavt | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs frei |
Where the eye mixes frei and freies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses frei with freies
A purely visual mix-up. frei ([fʁaɪ̯]) and freies ([ˈfʁaɪ̯əs]) 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) - “frei” sits inside “freies”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
frei is recorded at frequency rank #544, classified as anadj, pronounced [fʁaɪ̯]. freies is at rank #8,053, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯əs].
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 8597, this pair ranks #1,983,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of frei vs freies
Shared letters: efir. Private to "frei": -. Private to "freies": s.
"frei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "freies" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "frei" and "freies" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "frei" or "freies"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "frei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "freies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,983,678 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "frei" and "freies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freies vs Friese". 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 #1,983,678 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.