Which to use
“fra” and “Frau” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,703
- “fra” frequency rank
- #43,598
- “Frau” frequency rank
- 66301
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fra | Frau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fray (antes de un nombre propio). | Mujer₁. |
Where the eye mixes fra and Frau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fra runs 3 letters (CCV) against Frau's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fra and Frau
A purely visual mix-up. fra ([ˈfɾa]) and Frau ([fraʊ̯]) 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) - “fra” sits inside “Frau”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fra is recorded at frequency rank #22,703, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɾa]. Frau is at rank #43,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fraʊ̯].
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 66301, this pair ranks #40,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fra vs Frau
Shared letters: afr. Private to "fra": -. Private to "Frau": u.
"fra" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "Frau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Frau ← faru · ffrau · frrau · frua · rfau
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fra" for "Frau" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fra" or "Frau" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Frau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fra" and "Frau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fora vs Frau". 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 #40,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.