fröhlichvsfröhlichesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,950
“fröhlich” frequency rank
#24,341
“fröhliches” frequency rank
30291
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fröhlich fröhliches
Definition von froher, heiterer Art seiend; in guter Stimmung Nominativ Singular Neutrum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs fröhlich

Where the eye mixes fröhlich and fröhliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. fröhlich runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCC) against fröhliches's 10 (CCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
fröhlich
10 ch
fröhliches

Look-alike desk: fröhlich vs fröhliches

A purely visual mix-up. fröhlich ([ˈfʁøːlɪç]) and fröhliches ([ˈfʁøːlɪçəs]) 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) - “fröhlich” sits inside “fröhliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fröhlich is recorded at frequency rank #5,950, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁøːlɪç]. fröhliches is at rank #24,341, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁøːlɪçəs].

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 30291, this pair ranks #1,750,753 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fröhlich vs fröhliches

Shared letters: cfhilrö. Private to "fröhlich": -. Private to "fröhliches": es.

"fröhlich" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "fröhliches" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fröhlich" and "fröhliches" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfʁøːlɪç] versus [ˈfʁøːlɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fröhlich" or "fröhliches"?
"fröhlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,950 in our German list, against #24,341 for "fröhliches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fröhlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fröhliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,750,753 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fröhlich" and "fröhliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fröhlicher vs fröhliches". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,750,753 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