Which to use
“freilich” is an adverb and “fröhlich” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,480
- “freilich” frequency rank
- #5,950
- “fröhlich” frequency rank
- 11430
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | freilich | fröhlich |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | indessen, jedoch | von froher, heiterer Art seiend; in guter Stimmung |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set freilich and fröhlich apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
freilich and fröhlich form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
freilich is recorded at frequency rank #5,480, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯lɪç]. fröhlich is at rank #5,950, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁøːlɪç].
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 11430, this pair ranks #1,969,902 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "freilich" and "fröhlich" be used interchangeably?
Remembering freilich vs fröhlich
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “freilich”; for an adjective, it's “fröhlich”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “freilich” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable