WaisenvsweisenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Waisen is a noun, weisen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Waisen” is a noun and “weisen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,233
“Waisen” frequency rank
#2,935
“weisen” frequency rank
29168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Waisen weisen
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Waise auf etwas zeigen

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
Waisen
6 ch
weisen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: Waisen and weisen carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - a in “Waisen” becomes e in “weisen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Waisen is recorded at frequency rank #26,233, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]. weisen is at rank #2,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 29168, this pair ranks #1,771,776 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Waisen vs weisen

Shared letters: einsw. Private to "Waisen": a. Private to "weisen": -.

"Waisen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "weisen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Waisenawisen · waiesn · waisenn · waisne · waissen · wasien · wiasen · wwaisen
  • weisenewisen · weiesn · weisenn · weisne · weissen · wesien · wweisen

Frequency comparison

Waisen#26,233
weisen#2,935

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Waisen" and "weisen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Waisen" is a noun and "weisen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Waisen" or "weisen"?
"weisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,935 in our German list, against #26,233 for "Waisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Waisen vs weisen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Waisen”; for a verb, it's “weisen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Waisen” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list