Which to use
“freiwillige” and “freiwilliger” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,481
- “freiwillige” frequency rank
- #13,141
- “freiwilliger” frequency rank
- 18622
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | freiwillige | freiwilliger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs freiwillig | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs freiwillig |
Where the eye mixes freiwillige and freiwilliger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. freiwillige runs 11 letters (CCVVCVCCVCV) against freiwilliger's 12 (CCVVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses freiwillige with freiwilliger
A purely visual mix-up. freiwillige ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡə]) and freiwilliger ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡɐ]) 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) - “freiwillige” sits inside “freiwilliger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
freiwillige is recorded at frequency rank #5,481, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡə]. freiwilliger is at rank #13,141, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡɐ].
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 18622, this pair ranks #1,916,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of freiwillige vs freiwilliger
Shared letters: efgilrw. Private to "freiwillige": -. Private to "freiwilliger": -.
"freiwillige" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCV · "freiwilliger" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- freiwillige ← feriwillige · ffreiwillige · freiiwllige · freiwilige · freiwililge · freiwillgie · freiwillieg · freiwilligge
- freiwilliger ← feriwilliger · ffreiwilliger · freiiwlliger · freiwiliger · freiwililger · freiwillgier · freiwilliegr · freiwilligerr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "freiwillige" for "freiwilliger" ever safe?
Frequency check: "freiwillige" vs "freiwilliger" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "freiwillige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "freiwilliger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,916,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "freiwillige" and "freiwilliger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freiwilliger 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 #1,916,494 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.