FreundvsFreundeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#670
“Freund” frequency rank
#567
“Freunde” frequency rank
1237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Freund Freunde
Definition ein sehr nahestehendes Wesen, für das man freundschaftliche und kameradschaftliche Gefühle entwickelt hat Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Freund

Where the eye mixes Freund and Freunde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Freund
7 ch
Freunde

Visual trap between Freund and Freunde

A purely visual mix-up. Freund ([fʁɔɪ̯nt]) and Freunde ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ndə]) 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) - “Freund” sits inside “Freunde”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Freund is recorded at frequency rank #670, classified as anoun, pronounced [fʁɔɪ̯nt]. Freunde is at rank #567, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ndə].

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 1237, this pair ranks #2,004,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Freund vs Freunde

Shared letters: defnru. Private to "Freund": -. Private to "Freunde": -.

"Freund" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "Freunde" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Freundferund · ffreund · frenud · freudn · freundd · freunnd · frreund · fruend
  • Freundeferunde · ffreunde · frenude · freudne · freundde · freuned · freunnde · frreunde

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Freund" and "Freunde" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fʁɔɪ̯nt] versus [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ndə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Freund" or "Freunde"?
"Freunde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #567 in our German list, against #670 for "Freund". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Freund" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Freunde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,004,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Freund" and "Freunde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Freund vs Freyung". 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 #2,004,689 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