frühestenvsfrühestensWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: frühesten is a adjective, frühestens is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“frühesten” is an adjective and “frühestens” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,923
“frühesten” frequency rank
#14,805
“frühestens” frequency rank
35728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frühesten frühestens
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs früh nicht früher als

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set frühesten and frühestens apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
frühesten
10 ch
frühestens

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: frühesten is [ˈfʁyːəstn̩] while frühestens is [ˈfʁyːəstn̩s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “frühesten” sits inside “frühestens”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frühesten is recorded at frequency rank #20,923, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfʁyːəstn̩]. frühestens is at rank #14,805, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈfʁyːəstn̩s].

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 35728, this pair ranks #1,633,002 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of frühesten vs frühestens

Shared letters: efhnrstü. Private to "frühesten": -. Private to "frühestens": -.

"frühesten" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC  ·  "frühestens" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

frühesten#20,923
frühestens#14,805

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frühesten" and "frühestens" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "frühesten" is an adjective and "frühestens" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "frühesten" or "frühestens"?
"frühestens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,805 in our German list, against #20,923 for "frühesten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering frühesten vs frühestens

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “frühesten”; for an adverb, it's “frühestens”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “frühesten” 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