Which to use
“weilen” is a verb and “weiter” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,125
- “weilen” frequency rank
- #168
- “weiter” frequency rank
- 47293
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weilen | weiter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich an einem Ort aufhalten, an einem Ort bleiben | zum bereits Vorhandenen noch dazukommend, hinzugefügt |
Where the eye mixes weilen and weiter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. weilen and weiter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses weilen with weiter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weilen is [ˈvaɪ̯lən] while weiter is [ˈvaɪ̯tɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47293, 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]. weiter is at rank #168, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯tɐ].
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 47293, this pair ranks #1,289,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of weilen vs weiter
Shared letters: eiw. Private to "weilen": ln. Private to "weiter": rt.
"weilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "weiter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "weilen" and "weiter" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "weilen" or "weiter" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "weilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weiter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,289,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weilen" and "weiter" 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 #1,289,448 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.