weigerevsweigernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,366
“weigere” frequency rank
#18,760
“weigern” frequency rank
50126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weigere weigern
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs weigern ablehnen, etwas zu tun

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set weigere and weigern apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
weigere
7 ch
weigern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. weigere ([ˈvaɪ̯ɡəʁə]) and weigern ([ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn]) 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 a single letter - e in “weigere” becomes n in “weigern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weigere is recorded at frequency rank #31,366, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ɡəʁə]. weigern is at rank #18,760, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn].

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 50126, this pair ranks #1,185,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weigere vs weigern

Shared letters: egirw. Private to "weigere": -. Private to "weigern": n.

"weigere" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV  ·  "weigern" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weigereewigere · wegiere · weiegre · weigeer · weigerre · weiggere · weigree · wiegere
  • weigernewigern · wegiern · weiegrn · weigenr · weigernn · weigerrn · weiggern · weigren

Frequency comparison

weigere#31,366
weigern#18,760

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weigere" and "weigern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯ɡəʁə] versus [ˈvaɪ̯ɡɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "weigere" or "weigern"?
"weigern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,760 in our German list, against #31,366 for "weigere". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering weigere vs weigern

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “weigere” 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