Which to use
“kostenfrei” and “kostenfreie” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,328
- “kostenfrei” frequency rank
- #33,154
- “kostenfreie” frequency rank
- 45482
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kostenfrei | kostenfreie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | so, dass kein Geld für eine Ware oder Dienstleistung bezahlt werden muss | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs kostenfrei |
Where the eye mixes kostenfrei and kostenfreie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. kostenfrei runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCCVV) against kostenfreie's 11 (CVCCVCCCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses kostenfrei with kostenfreie
A purely visual mix-up. kostenfrei ([ˈkɔstn̩ˌfʁaɪ̯]) and kostenfreie ([ˈkɔstn̩ˌfʁaɪ̯ə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “kostenfrei” sits inside “kostenfreie”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kostenfrei is recorded at frequency rank #12,328, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstn̩ˌfʁaɪ̯]. kostenfreie is at rank #33,154, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈkɔstn̩ˌfʁaɪ̯ə].
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 45482, this pair ranks #1,351,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kostenfrei vs kostenfreie
Shared letters: efiknorst. Private to "kostenfrei": -. Private to "kostenfreie": -.
"kostenfrei" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVV · "kostenfreie" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- kostenfrei ← kkostenfrei · kosetnfrei · kosstenfrei · kostefnrei · kostenferi · kostenffrei · kostenfrie · kostenfrrei
- kostenfreie ← kkostenfreie · kosetnfreie · kosstenfreie · kostefnreie · kostenferie · kostenffreie · kostenfreei · kostenfriee
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "kostenfrei" and "kostenfreie" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "kostenfrei" or "kostenfreie" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kostenfrei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kostenfreie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,351,529 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kostenfrei" and "kostenfreie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kostenfreie vs kostenfreien". 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 #1,351,529 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.