wegenvswogegenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wegen is a preposition, wogegen is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#202
“wegen” frequency rank
#22,971
“wogegen” frequency rank
23173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wegen wogegen
Definition auf Grund, verursacht durch, auf Veranlassung von, mit Rücksicht auf gegen was

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
wegen
7 ch
wogegen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wegen is [ˈveːɡn̩] while wogegen is [voˈɡeːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wegen is recorded at frequency rank #202, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈveːɡn̩]. wogegen is at rank #22,971, tagged as anadv, pronounced [voˈɡeːɡn̩].

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 23173, this pair ranks #1,864,835 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wegen vs wogegen

Shared letters: egnw. Private to "wegen": -. Private to "wogegen": o.

"wegen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "wogegen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wegenewgen · weegn · wegenn · weggen · wegne · wgeen · wwegen
  • wogegenowgegen · wgoegen · woeggen · wogeegn · wogegenn · wogeggen · wogegne · woggeen

Frequency comparison

wegen#202
wogegen#22,971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wegen" and "wogegen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wegen" is a preposition and "wogegen" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wegen" or "wogegen"?
"wegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #202 in our German list, against #22,971 for "wogegen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wegen vs wogegen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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