weilenvsWeinTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#47,125
“weilen” frequency rank
#1,950
“Wein” frequency rank
49075
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weilen Wein
Definition sich an einem Ort aufhalten, an einem Ort bleiben die Rebe (Vitis), an der ^([2]) wächst

Where the eye mixes weilen and Wein

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
weilen
4 ch
Wein

Visual trap between weilen and Wein

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weilen is [ˈvaɪ̯lən] while Wein is [vaɪ̯n]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weilen is recorded at frequency rank #47,125, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯lən]. Wein is at rank #1,950, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vaɪ̯n].

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 49075, this pair ranks #1,224,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weilen vs Wein

Shared letters: einw. Private to "weilen": l. Private to "Wein": -.

"weilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Wein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weilenewilen · weieln · weilenn · weillen · weilne · welien · wielen · wweilen
  • Weinewin · weinn · weni · wwein

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weilen" and "Wein" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weilen" is a verb and "Wein" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weilen" or "Wein"?
"Wein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,950 in our German list, against #47,125 for "weilen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "weilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wein" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,224,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weilen" and "Wein" 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 #1,224,956 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