Which to use
“freien” and “fressen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,131
- “freien” frequency rank
- #5,482
- “fressen” frequency rank
- 6613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | freien | fressen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden zum Mann oder zur Frau nehmen | feste Nahrung einnehmen |
Where the eye mixes freien and fressen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between freien and fressen
A purely visual mix-up. freien ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ən]) and fressen ([ˈfʁɛsn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
freien is recorded at frequency rank #1,131, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ən]. fressen is at rank #5,482, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁɛsn̩].
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 6613, this pair ranks #1,991,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of freien vs fressen
Shared letters: efnr. Private to "freien": i. Private to "fressen": s.
"freien" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "fressen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "freien" for "fressen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "freien" vs "fressen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "freien" and "fressen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "freien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fressen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,047 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "freien" and "fressen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fessel vs fressen". 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 #1,991,047 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.