freiwilligenvsfreiwilligerWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,948
“freiwilligen” frequency rank
#13,141
“freiwilliger” frequency rank
19089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freiwilligen freiwilliger
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs freiwillig Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs freiwillig

Where the eye mixes freiwilligen and freiwilliger

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

12 ch
freiwilligen
12 ch
freiwilliger

Why the eye confuses freiwilligen with freiwilliger

A purely visual mix-up. freiwilligen ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “freiwilligen” becomes r in “freiwilliger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freiwilligen is recorded at frequency rank #5,948, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡn̩]. 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 19089, this pair ranks #1,911,949 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freiwilligen vs freiwilliger

Shared letters: efgilrw. Private to "freiwilligen": n. Private to "freiwilliger": -.

"freiwilligen" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCVC  ·  "freiwilliger" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freiwilligenferiwilligen · ffreiwilligen · freiiwlligen · freiwiligen · freiwililgen · freiwillgien · freiwilliegn · freiwilligenn
  • freiwilligerferiwilliger · ffreiwilliger · freiiwlliger · freiwiliger · freiwililger · freiwillgier · freiwilliegr · freiwilligerr

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "freiwilligen" and "freiwilliger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡn̩] versus [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌvɪlɪɡɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "freiwilligen" vs "freiwilliger" - which ranks higher?
"freiwilligen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,948 in our German list, against #13,141 for "freiwilliger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "freiwilligen" 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 #1,911,949 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freiwilligen" 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 #1,911,949 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