Which to use
“Wehe” is a noun and “wes” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,122
- “Wehe” frequency rank
- #22,214
- “wes” frequency rank
- 31336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wehe | wes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | seelischer Schmerz | wessen (Genitiv von wer und was) |
Where the eye mixes Wehe and wes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Wehe vs wes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wehe is [ˈveːə] while wes is [vɛs]. 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 (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31336, 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]. wes is at rank #22,214, tagged as apron, pronounced [vɛs].
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 31336, this pair ranks #1,730,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Wehe vs wes
Shared letters: ew. Private to "Wehe": h. Private to "wes": s.
"Wehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "wes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Wehe ← ewhe · weeh · wehhe · whee · wwehe
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Wehe" and "wes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Wehe" or "wes" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "wes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,730,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wehe" and "wes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs wes". 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 #1,730,160 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.