Which to use
“freies” is an adjective and “Friese” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,053
- “freies” frequency rank
- #44,621
- “Friese” frequency rank
- 52674
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | freies | Friese |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs frei | Angehöriger einer Volksgruppe in Friesland (an der Nordseeküste), in der neben Platt- und Hochdeutsch beziehungsweise Niederländisch das Friesische gesprochen wird oder früher wurde |
Where the eye mixes freies and Friese
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. freies (CCVVVC) and Friese (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses freies with Friese
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: freies is [ˈfʁaɪ̯əs] while Friese is [ˈfʁiːzə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
freies is recorded at frequency rank #8,053, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯əs]. Friese is at rank #44,621, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁiːzə].
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 52674, this pair ranks #1,087,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of freies vs Friese
Shared letters: efirs. Private to "freies": -. Private to "Friese": -.
"freies" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "Friese" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "freies" for "Friese" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "freies" or "Friese" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "freies" and "Friese" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "freies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Friese" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,087,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "freies" and "Friese" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "friere 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 #1,087,651 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.