Which to use
“Frey” is a name and “früh” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,234
- “Frey” frequency rank
- #1,056
- “früh” frequency rank
- 12290
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Frey | früh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | deutscher Nachname, Familienname | zeitlich am Anfang liegend, zum Beginn |
Where the eye mixes Frey and früh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Frey (CCVV) and früh (CCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses Frey with früh
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Frey is [fʁaɪ̯] while früh is [fʁyː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Frey is recorded at frequency rank #11,234, classified as aname, pronounced [fʁaɪ̯]. früh is at rank #1,056, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fʁyː].
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 12290, this pair ranks #1,965,068 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Frey vs früh
Shared letters: fr. Private to "Frey": ey. Private to "früh": hü.
"Frey" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "früh" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Frey ← fery · ffrey · freyy · frrey · frye · rfey
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Frey" and "früh" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Frey" or "früh"?
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 "Frey" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "früh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,965,068 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Frey" and "früh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferry vs Frey". 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 #1,965,068 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.