WeihevsweilenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Weihe is a noun, weilen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Weihe” is a noun and “weilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,789
“Weihe” frequency rank
#47,125
“weilen” frequency rank
67914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weihe weilen
Definition Heiligung, Aufwertung einer Person oder Sache durch eine rituelle Zeremonie sich an einem Ort aufhalten, an einem Ort bleiben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Weihe and weilen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Weihe
6 ch
weilen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Weihe is [ˈvaɪ̯ə] while weilen is [ˈvaɪ̯lən]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weihe is recorded at frequency rank #20,789, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ə]. weilen is at rank #47,125, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯lən].

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 67914, this pair ranks #524,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Weihe vs weilen

Shared letters: eiw. Private to "Weihe": h. Private to "weilen": ln.

"Weihe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "weilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weiheewihe · wehie · weieh · weihhe · wiehe · wweihe
  • weilenewilen · weieln · weilenn · weillen · weilne · welien · wielen · wweilen

Frequency comparison

Weihe#20,789
weilen#47,125

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Weihe" and "weilen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Weihe" is a noun and "weilen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Weihe" or "weilen"?
"Weihe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,789 in our German list, against #47,125 for "weilen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Weihe vs weilen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Weihe”; for a verb, it's “weilen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Weihe” 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