Which to use
“freiem” is an adjective and “freue” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,366
- “freiem” frequency rank
- #2,058
- “freue” frequency rank
- 11424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | freiem | freue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs frei | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs freuen |
Where the eye mixes freiem and freue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. freiem runs 6 letters (CCVVVC) against freue's 5 (CCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: freiem vs freue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: freiem is [ˈfʁaɪ̯əm] while freue is [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ə]. 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 11424, 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]. freue is at rank #2,058, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ə].
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 11424, this pair ranks #1,969,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of freiem vs freue
Shared letters: efr. Private to "freiem": im. Private to "freue": u.
"freiem" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "freue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "freiem" for "freue" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "freiem" or "freue" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "freiem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "freue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,969,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "freiem" and "freue" 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 #1,969,933 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.