freutvsfreutenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,513
“freut” frequency rank
#28,193
“freuten” frequency rank
29706
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freut freuten
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs freuen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs freuen

Where the eye mixes freut and freuten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
freut
7 ch
freuten

Why the eye confuses freut with freuten

A purely visual mix-up. freut ([fʁɔɪ̯t]) and freuten ([ˈfʁɔɪ̯tn̩]) 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) - “freut” sits inside “freuten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freut is recorded at frequency rank #1,513, classified as averb, pronounced [fʁɔɪ̯t]. freuten is at rank #28,193, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯tn̩].

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 29706, this pair ranks #1,761,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freut vs freuten

Shared letters: efrtu. Private to "freut": -. Private to "freuten": n.

"freut" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "freuten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freutferut · ffreut · fretu · freutt · frreut · fruet · rfeut
  • freutenferuten · ffreuten · fretuen · freuetn · freutenn · freutne · freutten · frreuten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "freut" and "freuten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fʁɔɪ̯t] versus [ˈfʁɔɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "freut" vs "freuten" - which ranks higher?
"freut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,513 in our German list, against #28,193 for "freuten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "freut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freuten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,761,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "freut" and "freuten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "freuten vs Fritten". 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 #1,761,766 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