WeidenvsWienWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Weiden” and “Wien” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,836
“Weiden” frequency rank
#563
“Wien” frequency rank
10399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weiden Wien
Definition eine Stadt in Bayern, Deutschland Hauptstadt Österreichs

Where the eye mixes Weiden and Wien

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Weiden runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Wien's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Weiden
4 ch
Wien

Visual trap between Weiden and Wien

A purely visual mix-up. Weiden ([ˈvaɪ̯dn̩]) and Wien ([viːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weiden is recorded at frequency rank #9,836, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯dn̩]. Wien is at rank #563, tagged as aname, pronounced [viːn].

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 10399, this pair ranks #1,975,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weiden vs Wien

Shared letters: einw. Private to "Weiden": d. Private to "Wien": -.

"Weiden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Wien" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weidenewiden · wedien · weidden · weidenn · weidne · weiedn · wieden · wweiden
  • Wieniwen · wienn · wwien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Weiden" and "Wien" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯dn̩] versus [viːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Weiden" vs "Wien" - which ranks higher?
"Wien" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #563 in our German list, against #9,836 for "Weiden". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weiden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,975,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weiden" and "Wien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weiden vs weilen". 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 #1,975,337 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list