Which to use
“wälzen” and “wollen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,564
- “wälzen” frequency rank
- #182
- “wollen” frequency rank
- 35746
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wälzen | wollen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Sache mit Kraft drücken und schieben, indem sie sich dreht | entschieden haben und deswegen vorhaben beziehungsweise den Vorsatz haben, etwas zu tun, um etwas zu erlangen oder zu erreichen |
Where the eye mixes wälzen and wollen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wälzen and wollen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: wälzen vs wollen
A purely visual mix-up. wälzen ([ˈvɛlt͡sn̩]) and wollen ([ˈvɔlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wälzen is recorded at frequency rank #35,564, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛlt͡sn̩]. wollen is at rank #182, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɔlən].
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 35746, this pair ranks #1,632,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wälzen vs wollen
Shared letters: elnw. Private to "wälzen": zä. Private to "wollen": o.
"wälzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wollen ← owllen · wlolen · woleln · wolen · wollenn · wollne · wwollen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wälzen" and "wollen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wälzen" or "wollen"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "wälzen" and "wollen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wälzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,632,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wälzen" and "wollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wälzen vs Warzen". 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 #1,632,551 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.