FremdevsFreudenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,444
“Fremde” frequency rank
#16,429
“Freuden” frequency rank
19873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fremde Freuden
Definition eine weibliche Person, die man nicht kennt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Freude

Where the eye mixes Fremde and Freuden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Fremde runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against Freuden's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Fremde
7 ch
Freuden

Visual trap between Fremde and Freuden

A purely visual mix-up. Fremde ([ˈfʁɛmdə]) and Freuden ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯dn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fremde is recorded at frequency rank #3,444, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁɛmdə]. Freuden is at rank #16,429, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯dn̩].

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 19873, this pair ranks #1,903,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Fremde vs Freuden

Shared letters: defr. Private to "Fremde": m. Private to "Freuden": nu.

"Fremde" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "Freuden" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fremdefermde · ffremde · fredme · fremdde · fremed · fremmde · frmede · frremde
  • Freudenferuden · ffreuden · freduen · freudden · freudenn · freuedn · frreuden · frueden

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Fremde" and "Freuden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁɛmdə] versus [ˈfʁɔɪ̯dn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Fremde" or "Freuden" show up more?
"Fremde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,444 in our German list, against #16,429 for "Freuden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fremde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Freuden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,903,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fremde" and "Freuden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fremdem vs Freuden". 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 #1,903,695 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