WedelvswedelnWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Wedel is a name, wedeln is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Wedel” is a name and “wedeln” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,786
“Wedel” frequency rank
#45,037
“wedeln” frequency rank
68823
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wedel wedeln
Definition eine Stadt in Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland mit einem Körperteil oder einem leichten Gegenstand hin und her schwingen

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Wedel
6 ch
wedeln

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wedel is [ˈveːdl̩] while wedeln is [ˈveːdl̩n]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Wedel” sits inside “wedeln”, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68823, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wedel is recorded at frequency rank #23,786, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈveːdl̩]. wedeln is at rank #45,037, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːdl̩n].

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 68823, this pair ranks #495,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Wedel vs wedeln

Shared letters: delw. Private to "Wedel": -. Private to "wedeln": n.

"Wedel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "wedeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wedelewdel · wdeel · weddel · wedell · wedle · weedl · wwedel
  • wedelnewdeln · wdeeln · weddeln · wedelln · wedelnn · wedenl · wedlen · weedln

Frequency comparison

Wedel#23,786
wedeln#45,037

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wedel" and "wedeln" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wedel" is a name and "wedeln" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wedel" or "wedeln"?
"Wedel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,786 in our German list, against #45,037 for "wedeln". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wedel vs wedeln

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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