Which to use
“weilen” is a verb and “wilden” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,125
- “weilen” frequency rank
- #5,235
- “wilden” frequency rank
- 52360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weilen | wilden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich an einem Ort aufhalten, an einem Ort bleiben | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wild |
Where the eye mixes weilen and wilden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. weilen (CVVCVC) and wilden (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: weilen vs wilden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weilen is [ˈvaɪ̯lən] while wilden is [ˈvɪldn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 52360, 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]. wilden is at rank #5,235, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪldn̩].
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 52360, this pair ranks #1,099,895 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of weilen vs wilden
Shared letters: eilnw. Private to "weilen": -. Private to "wilden": d.
"weilen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "wilden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "weilen" and "wilden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "weilen" or "wilden" 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 "weilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wilden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,099,895 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weilen" and "wilden" 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 #1,099,895 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.