freiemvsfreiesConfusable pair

Which to use

“freiem” and “freies” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,366
“freiem” frequency rank
#8,053
“freies” frequency rank
17419
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freiem freies
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs frei Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs frei

Where the eye mixes freiem and freies

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. freiem and freies follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
freiem
6 ch
freies

Why the eye confuses freiem with freies

A purely visual mix-up. freiem ([ˈfʁaɪ̯əm]) 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 a single letter - m in “freiem” becomes s in “freies”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freiem is recorded at frequency rank #9,366, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯əm]. 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 17419, this pair ranks #1,927,558 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freiem vs freies

Shared letters: efir. Private to "freiem": m. Private to "freies": s.

"freiem" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC  ·  "freies" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freiem ← feriem · ffreiem · freeim · freiemm · freime · frieem · frreiem · rfeiem
  • freies ← feries · ffreies · freeis · freiess · freise · friees · frreies · rfeies

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "freiem" and "freies" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaɪ̯əm] versus [ˈfʁaɪ̯əs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "freiem" or "freies"?
"freies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,053 in our German list, against #9,366 for "freiem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "freiem" and "freies" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "freiem" 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 #1,927,558 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freiem" and "freies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freiem vs fremdem". 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 #1,927,558 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