freiwilligvsfreiwilligeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,248
“freiwillig” frequency rank
#5,481
“freiwillige” frequency rank
8729
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freiwillig freiwillige
Definition aus freiem Willen, ohne explizite Aufforderung Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs freiwillig

Where the eye mixes freiwillig and freiwillige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
freiwillig
11 ch
freiwillige

Look-alike desk: freiwillig vs freiwillige

A purely visual mix-up. freiwillig ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪç]) and freiwillige ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “freiwillig” sits inside “freiwillige”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freiwillig is recorded at frequency rank #3,248, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪç]. freiwillige is at rank #5,481, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡə].

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 8729, this pair ranks #1,983,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freiwillig vs freiwillige

Shared letters: efgilrw. Private to "freiwillig": -. Private to "freiwillige": -.

"freiwillig" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVC  ·  "freiwillige" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freiwilligferiwillig · ffreiwillig · freiiwllig · freiwilig · freiwililg · freiwillgi · freiwilligg · freiwlilig
  • freiwilligeferiwillige · ffreiwillige · freiiwllige · freiwilige · freiwililge · freiwillgie · freiwillieg · freiwilligge

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "freiwillig" and "freiwillige" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪç] versus [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "freiwillig" vs "freiwillige" - which ranks higher?
"freiwillig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,248 in our German list, against #5,481 for "freiwillige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "freiwillig" and "freiwillige" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "freiwillig" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freiwillige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,983,087 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freiwillig" and "freiwillige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freiwillige vs freiwilliges". 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 #1,983,087 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list