freutevsfrüheWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: freute is a verb, frühe is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“freute” is a verb and “frühe” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,076
“freute” frequency rank
#5,707
“frühe” frequency rank
17783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freute frühe
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs freuen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs früh

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set freute and frühe apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
freute
5 ch
frühe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

freute and frühe form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freute is recorded at frequency rank #12,076, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfʁɔɪ̯tə]. frühe is at rank #5,707, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁyːə].

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 17783, this pair ranks #1,924,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

freute#12,076
frühe#5,707

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "freute" and "frühe" be used interchangeably?
No, "freute" and "frühe" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering freute vs frühe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “freute”; for an adjective, it's “frühe”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “freute” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list