freiesvsfrohesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,053
“freies” frequency rank
#15,359
“frohes” frequency rank
23412
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freies frohes
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs frei Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs froh

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set freies and frohes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
freies
6 ch
frohes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. freies ([ˈfʁaɪ̯əs]) and frohes ([ˈfʁoːəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23412, 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]. frohes is at rank #15,359, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁoːəs].

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 23412, this pair ranks #1,861,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freies vs frohes

Shared letters: efrs. Private to "freies": i. Private to "frohes": ho.

"freies" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC  ·  "frohes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freiesferies · ffreies · freeis · freiess · freise · friees · frreies · rfeies
  • frohesffrohes · forhes · frhoes · froehs · frohess · frohhes · frohse · frrohes

Frequency comparison

freies#8,053
frohes#15,359

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "freies" and "frohes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaɪ̯əs] versus [ˈfʁoːəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "freies" or "frohes"?
"freies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,053 in our German list, against #15,359 for "frohes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering freies vs frohes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “freies” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list