Which to use
“frei” is an adjective and “Frey” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #544
- “frei” frequency rank
- #11,234
- “Frey” frequency rank
- 11778
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | frei | Frey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unabhängig, nicht gefangen, nicht versklavt | deutscher Nachname, Familienname |
Same sound, different letters: frei vs Frey
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters.
Homophone desk: frei vs Frey
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: frei and Frey carry the same recorded pronunciation, [fʁaɪ̯]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other aname, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - i in “frei” becomes y in “Frey”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
frei is recorded at frequency rank #544, classified as anadj, pronounced [fʁaɪ̯]. Frey is at rank #11,234, tagged as aname, pronounced [fʁaɪ̯].
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 11778, this pair ranks #1,967,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of frei vs Frey
Shared letters: efr. Private to "frei": i. Private to "Frey": y.
"frei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "Frey" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "frei" and "Frey" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "frei" or "Frey" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "frei" / "Frey". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "frei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Frey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,967,952 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "frei" and "Frey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferry vs Frey". 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 #1,967,952 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.