WedelvswideWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Wedel is a name, wide is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#23,786
“Wedel” frequency rank
#20,128
“wide” frequency rank
43914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wedel wide
Definition eine Stadt in Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland von großer Ausdehnung

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wedel and wide apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Wedel
4 ch
wide

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wedel is [ˈveːdl̩] while wide is [waɪd]. 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 (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43914, 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]. wide is at rank #20,128, tagged as anadj, pronounced [waɪd].

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 43914, this pair ranks #1,402,977 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Wedel vs wide

Shared letters: dew. Private to "Wedel": l. Private to "wide": i.

"Wedel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "wide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wedelewdel · wdeel · weddel · wedell · wedle · weedl · wwedel
  • wideiwde · wdie · widde · wwide

Frequency comparison

Wedel#23,786
wide#20,128

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wedel" and "wide" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wedel" is a name and "wide" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wedel" or "wide"?
"wide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,128 in our German list, against #23,786 for "Wedel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wedel vs wide

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Wedel”; for an adjective, it's “wide”.
  • 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