früher
[ˈfʁyːɐ]
The verdict
“früher” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #518. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #518
- frequency rank, German
- 45,736
- “F” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - zeitlich vorher
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | früher |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˈfʁyːɐ] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #518 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “früher” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around früher (IPA [ˈfʁyːɐ]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #518 among 45,736 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for früher, with forms such as "ffrüher", "frhüer", and "frrüher". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fuhr", "Führer", "frühes", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is früher, spelled F-R-Ü-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1zeitlich vorher
- 2gewesen, zurückliegend
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ffrüher
- frhüer
- frrüher
- früehr
- früherr
- frühher
- frühre
- fürher
- rfüher
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of früher - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "früher"?
What does "früher" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "früher"?
How do you pronounce "früher"?
What language does "früher" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “früher”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is F-R-Ü-H-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈfʁyːɐ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “fuhr” - see the side-by-side comparison. früher vs fuhr
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Same frequency band
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.