freundlichenvsfreundlichesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,369
“freundlichen” frequency rank
#21,257
“freundliches” frequency rank
29626
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freundlichen freundliches
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs freundlich Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs freundlich

Where the eye mixes freundlichen and freundliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. freundlichen and freundliches follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
freundlichen
12 ch
freundliches

Look-alike desk: freundlichen vs freundliches

A purely visual mix-up. freundlichen ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçn̩]) and freundliches ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçəs]) 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 a single letter - n in “freundlichen” becomes s in “freundliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freundlichen is recorded at frequency rank #8,369, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçn̩]. freundliches is at rank #21,257, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçəs].

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 29626, this pair ranks #1,763,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freundlichen vs freundliches

Shared letters: cdefhilnru. Private to "freundlichen": -. Private to "freundliches": s.

"freundlichen" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCCCVCCVC  ·  "freundliches" · 12 letters · shape CCVVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freundlichen ← ferundlichen · ffreundlichen · frenudlichen · freudnlichen · freunddlichen · freundilchen · freundlcihen · freundlicchen
  • freundliches ← ferundliches · ffreundliches · frenudliches · freudnliches · freunddliches · freundilches · freundlcihes · freundlicches

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "freundlichen" and "freundliches" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçn̩] versus [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ntlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "freundlichen" vs "freundliches" - which ranks higher?
"freundlichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,369 in our German list, against #21,257 for "freundliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "freundlichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freundliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,763,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freundlichen" and "freundliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feindliches vs freundliches". 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 #1,763,361 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