webenvswehrenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“weben” and “wehren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,516
“weben” frequency rank
#5,444
“wehren” frequency rank
43960
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weben wehren
Definition durch wechselweises Kreuzen von Längsfäden und Querfäden ein Tuch oder Stoff herstellen sich etwas/jemandem entgegensetzen; gegen etwas Widerstand leisten

Where the eye mixes weben and wehren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. weben runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against wehren's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
weben
6 ch
wehren

Why the eye confuses weben with wehren

A purely visual mix-up. weben ([ˈveːbn̩]) and wehren ([ˈveːʁən]) 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 43960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weben is recorded at frequency rank #38,516, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːbn̩]. wehren is at rank #5,444, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːʁən].

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 43960, this pair ranks #1,401,547 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weben vs wehren

Shared letters: enw. Private to "weben": b. Private to "wehren": hr.

"weben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "wehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weben ← ewben · wbeen · webben · webenn · webne · weebn · wweben
  • wehren ← ewhren · wehern · wehhren · wehrenn · wehrne · wehrren · werhen · wheren

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weben" and "wehren" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈveːbn̩] versus [ˈveːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "weben" or "wehren"?
"wehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,444 in our German list, against #38,516 for "weben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "weben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,401,547 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weben" and "wehren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weben vs weilen". 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 #1,401,547 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list