Which to use
“freu” is a verb and “Freude” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,186
- “freu” frequency rank
- #1,157
- “Freude” frequency rank
- 7343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | freu | Freude |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs freuen | positives Gefühl |
Where the eye mixes freu and Freude
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between freu and Freude
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: freu is [fʁɔɪ̯] while Freude is [ˈfʁɔɪ̯də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “freu” sits inside “Freude”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
freu is recorded at frequency rank #6,186, classified as averb, pronounced [fʁɔɪ̯]. Freude is at rank #1,157, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯də].
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 7343, this pair ranks #1,988,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of freu vs Freude
Shared letters: efru. Private to "freu": -. Private to "Freude": d.
"freu" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "Freude" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "freu" and "Freude" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "freu" or "Freude" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "freu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Freude" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,988,507 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "freu" and "Freude" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fen vs freu". 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 #1,988,507 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.