wedelnvswegenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#45,037
“wedeln” frequency rank
#202
“wegen” frequency rank
45239
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wedeln wegen
Definition mit einem Körperteil oder einem leichten Gegenstand hin und her schwingen auf Grund, verursacht durch, auf Veranlassung von, mit Rücksicht auf

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
wedeln
5 ch
wegen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wedeln is [ˈveːdl̩n] while wegen is [ˈveːɡn̩]. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wedeln is recorded at frequency rank #45,037, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːdl̩n]. wegen is at rank #202, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ˈveːɡn̩].

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 45239, this pair ranks #1,359,819 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wedeln vs wegen

Shared letters: enw. Private to "wedeln": dl. Private to "wegen": g.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wedelnewdeln · wdeeln · weddeln · wedelln · wedelnn · wedenl · wedlen · weedln
  • wegenewgen · weegn · wegenn · weggen · wegne · wgeen · wwegen

Frequency comparison

wedeln#45,037
wegen#202

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wedeln" and "wegen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wedeln" is a verb and "wegen" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wedeln" or "wegen"?
"wegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #202 in our German list, against #45,037 for "wedeln". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wedeln vs wegen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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