Which to use
“Weilchen” is a noun and “weilen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,392
- “Weilchen” frequency rank
- #47,125
- “weilen” frequency rank
- 80517
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Weilchen | weilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | unbestimmte, meist kurze Zeitspanne | sich an einem Ort aufhalten, an einem Ort bleiben |
Where the eye mixes Weilchen and weilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Weilchen runs 8 letters (CVVCCCVC) against weilen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Weilchen vs weilen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Weilchen is [ˈvaɪ̯lçən] while weilen is [ˈvaɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 80517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Weilchen is recorded at frequency rank #33,392, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯lçən]. 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 80517, this pair ranks #193,988 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Weilchen vs weilen
Shared letters: eilnw. Private to "Weilchen": ch. Private to "weilen": -.
"Weilchen" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC · "weilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Weilchen" and "weilen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "Weilchen" or "weilen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Weilchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,988 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Weilchen" and "weilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs Weines". 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 #193,988 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.