fradevsFrauWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“frade” and “Frau” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,162
“frade” frequency rank
#32,994
“Frau” frequency rank
63156
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frade Frau
Definition membro de uma ordem religiosa, em especial as ordens franciscanas, dominicanas, carmelitas e augustinianas; freire mulher

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set frade and Frau apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
frade
4 ch
Frau

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. frade (/ˈfɾa.dɨ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frade is recorded at frequency rank #30,162, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɾa.dɨ/. Frau is at rank #32,994, 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 63156, this pair ranks #6,326 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of frade vs Frau

Shared letters: afr. Private to "frade": de. Private to "Frau": u.

"frade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Frau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fradefarde · ffrade · fradde · fraed · frdae · frrade · rfade
  • Fraufaru · ffrau · frrau · frua · rfau

Frequency comparison

frade#30,162
Frau#32,994

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frade" and "Frau" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfɾa.dɨ/ versus /fraʊ̯/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "frade" or "Frau"?
"frade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,162 in our Portuguese list, against #32,994 for "Frau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering frade vs Frau

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “frade” 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