freundlichvsfreundlicherWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,956
“freundlich” frequency rank
#11,875
“freundlicher” frequency rank
14831
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freundlich freundlicher
Definition in der Begegnung mit anderen Menschen, Dingen, Ereignissen positiv eingestellt Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs freundlich

Where the eye mixes freundlich and freundlicher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. freundlich runs 10 letters (CCVVCCCVCC) against freundlicher's 12 (CCVVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
freundlich
12 ch
freundlicher

Visual trap between freundlich and freundlicher

A purely visual mix-up. freundlich ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪç]) and freundlicher ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçɐ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “freundlich” sits inside “freundlicher”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freundlich is recorded at frequency rank #2,956, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪç]. freundlicher is at rank #11,875, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçɐ].

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 14831, this pair ranks #1,948,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freundlich vs freundlicher

Shared letters: cdefhilnru. Private to "freundlich": -. Private to "freundlicher": -.

"freundlich" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCCCVCC  ·  "freundlicher" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freundlich ← ferundlich · ffreundlich · frenudlich · freudnlich · freunddlich · freundilch · freundlcih · freundlicch
  • freundlicher ← ferundlicher · ffreundlicher · frenudlicher · freudnlicher · freunddlicher · freundilcher · freundlciher · freundliccher

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "freundlich" and "freundlicher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪç] versus [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "freundlich" or "freundlicher" show up more?
"freundlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,956 in our German list, against #11,875 for "freundlicher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "freundlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freundlicher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,948,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freundlich" and "freundlicher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feindlicher vs freundlicher". 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 #1,948,395 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