webenvswessenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: weben is a verb, wessen is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“weben” is a verb and “wessen” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,516
“weben” frequency rank
#12,833
“wessen” frequency rank
51349
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weben wessen
Definition durch wechselweises Kreuzen von Längsfäden und Querfäden ein Tuch oder Stoff herstellen Genitiv von wer

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set weben and wessen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
weben
6 ch
wessen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weben is [ˈveːbn̩] while wessen is [ˈvɛsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51349, 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]. wessen is at rank #12,833, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈvɛsn̩].

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 51349, this pair ranks #1,138,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weben vs wessen

Shared letters: enw. Private to "weben": b. Private to "wessen": s.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • webenewben · wbeen · webben · webenn · webne · weebn · wweben
  • wessenewssen · wesesn · wessenn · wessne · weßen · wsesen · wwessen

Frequency comparison

weben#38,516
wessen#12,833

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weben" and "wessen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weben" is a verb and "wessen" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weben" or "wessen"?
"wessen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,833 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.

Remembering weben vs wessen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “weben”; for a pronoun, it's “wessen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “weben” 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