FreizeitvsFrühzeitWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,374
“Freizeit” frequency rank
#34,100
“Frühzeit” frequency rank
37474
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Freizeit Frühzeit
Definition frei verfügbare Zeit Zeitraum, der den Anfang von etwas (beispielsweise einer Entwicklung) darstellt

Where the eye mixes Freizeit and Frühzeit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Freizeit (CCVVCVVC) and Frühzeit (CCVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
Freizeit
8 ch
Frühzeit

Why the eye confuses Freizeit with Frühzeit

A purely visual mix-up. Freizeit ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌt͡saɪ̯t]) and Frühzeit ([ˈfʁyːˌt͡saɪ̯t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Freizeit is recorded at frequency rank #3,374, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌt͡saɪ̯t]. Frühzeit is at rank #34,100, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁyːˌt͡saɪ̯t].

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 37474, this pair ranks #1,589,275 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Freizeit vs Frühzeit

Shared letters: efirtz. Private to "Freizeit": -. Private to "Frühzeit": hü.

"Freizeit" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVVC  ·  "Frühzeit" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Freizeit ← ferizeit · ffreizeit · freiezit · freizeitt · freizeti · freiziet · freizzeit · frezieit

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Freizeit" and "Frühzeit" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁaɪ̯ˌt͡saɪ̯t] versus [ˈfʁyːˌt͡saɪ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Freizeit" or "Frühzeit"?
"Freizeit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,374 in our German list, against #34,100 for "Frühzeit". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Freizeit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Frühzeit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,589,275 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Freizeit" and "Frühzeit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Flugzeit vs Frühzeit". 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 #1,589,275 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