freiwilligevsfreiwilligesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,481
“freiwillige” frequency rank
#32,042
“freiwilliges” frequency rank
37523
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freiwillige freiwilliges
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs freiwillig Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs freiwillig

Where the eye mixes freiwillige and freiwilliges

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. freiwillige runs 11 letters (CCVVCVCCVCV) against freiwilliges's 12 (CCVVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
freiwillige
12 ch
freiwilliges

Look-alike desk: freiwillige vs freiwilliges

A purely visual mix-up. freiwillige ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡə]) and freiwilliges ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡəs]) 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 “freiwilliges”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37523, 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]. freiwilliges is at rank #32,042, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡəs].

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 37523, this pair ranks #1,587,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freiwillige vs freiwilliges

Shared letters: efgilrw. Private to "freiwillige": -. Private to "freiwilliges": s.

"freiwillige" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCV  ·  "freiwilliges" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freiwillige ← feriwillige · ffreiwillige · freiiwllige · freiwilige · freiwililge · freiwillgie · freiwillieg · freiwilligge
  • freiwilliges ← feriwilliges · ffreiwilliges · freiiwlliges · freiwiliges · freiwililges · freiwillgies · freiwilliegs · freiwilligess

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "freiwillige" for "freiwilliges" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡə] versus [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "freiwillige" or "freiwilliges" show up more?
"freiwillige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,481 in our German list, against #32,042 for "freiwilliges". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "freiwilliges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,587,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freiwillige" and "freiwilliges" 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 #1,587,996 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