Which to use
“Wehr” is a noun and “wenn” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,974
- “Wehr” frequency rank
- #41
- “wenn” frequency rank
- 11015
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wehr | wenn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Anlage zur Stauung von Wasser, die quer durch ein fließendes Gewässer verläuft | sobald |
Where the eye mixes Wehr and wenn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Wehr with wenn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wehr is [veːɐ̯] 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 11015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Wehr is recorded at frequency rank #10,974, classified as anoun, pronounced [veːɐ̯]. 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 11015, this pair ranks #1,972,140 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Wehr vs wenn
Shared letters: ew. Private to "Wehr": hr. Private to "wenn": n.
"Wehr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wenn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Wehr" and "wenn" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Wehr" vs "wenn" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Wehr" 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 #1,972,140 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wehr" and "wenn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wehr 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 #1,972,140 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.