VillenvsvollenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Villen is a noun, vollen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Villen” is a noun and “vollen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,078
“Villen” frequency rank
#3,930
“vollen” frequency rank
23008
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Villen vollen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Villa Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs voll

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Villen and vollen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Villen
6 ch
vollen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Villen is [ˈvɪlən] while vollen is [ˈfɔlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “Villen” becomes o in “vollen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23008, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Villen is recorded at frequency rank #19,078, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪlən]. vollen is at rank #3,930, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔlən].

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 23008, this pair ranks #1,866,923 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Villen vs vollen

Shared letters: elnv. Private to "Villen": i. Private to "vollen": o.

"Villen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "vollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Villenivllen · vileln · vilen · villenn · villne · vlilen · vvillen
  • vollenovllen · vlolen · voleln · volen · vollenn · vollne · vvollen

Frequency comparison

Villen#19,078
vollen#3,930

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Villen" and "vollen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Villen" is a noun and "vollen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Villen" or "vollen"?
"vollen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,930 in our German list, against #19,078 for "Villen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Villen vs vollen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Villen”; for an adjective, it's “vollen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Villen” 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