Which to use
“Wehe” is a noun and “wenn” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,122
- “Wehe” frequency rank
- #41
- “wenn” frequency rank
- 9163
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wehe | wenn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | seelischer Schmerz | sobald |
Where the eye mixes Wehe and wenn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Wehe and wenn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wehe is [ˈveːə] while wenn is [vɛn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Wehe is recorded at frequency rank #9,122, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈveːə]. wenn is at rank #41, tagged as aconj, pronounced [vɛn].
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 9163, this pair ranks #1,981,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Wehe vs wenn
Shared letters: ew. Private to "Wehe": h. Private to "wenn": n.
"Wehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wenn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Wehe" and "wenn" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Wehe" or "wenn" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Wehe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wenn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,981,212 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wehe" and "wenn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wehe vs went". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,981,212 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.