freuen
German, verb/ˈfʁɔʏ̯ən/
freuen is spelled F-R-E-U-E-N (6 letters) and appears 83 times per million words in written German, the 1,041st most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Freuen is a German verb meaning “to gladden, to make glad, to make pleased” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “Freude erleben oder empfinden”.
What does freuen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to gladden, to make glad, to make pleased
[Es] freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen.
- 2
to be glad, pleased, or happy about something
Er freut sich darüber.
- 3
to look forward to
Wir freuen uns auf Sie!
- 4
to be happy for someone
Das ist ja super! Ich freue mich so unglaublich für dich!
- 5
to take delight in
Sie freut sich der vielen Abenteuer des Lebens.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Freude erleben oder empfinden 2. bei dem Gedanken an ein zukünftiges Ereignis Freude empfinden; Vorfreude empfinden 3. jemandem Freude bereiten
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of freuen
- freut present singular third-person
- freute past
- gefreut participle past
- haben auxiliary
- freuend participle present
- freue first-person indicative present
- freust indicative present second-person
- freuest second-person singular subjunctive
- freuet plural second-person subjunctive
- freuten first-person indicative plural
- freutest indicative preterite second-person
- freutet indicative plural preterite
- freu imperative second-person singular
- habe gefreut first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben gefreut first-person indicative multiword-construction
- freu! imperative singular
- freut! imperative plural
- sich freuen infinitive present not-extended
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce freuen?
- /ˈfʁɔʏ̯ən/
- [ˈfʁɔɪ̯ən]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to freuen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is freuen in German?
freuen appears 83 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).