Which to use
“weinen” is a verb and “weise” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,862
- “weinen” frequency rank
- #740
- “weise” frequency rank
- 4602
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weinen | weise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tränen vergießen | reich an Wissen und Lebenserfahrung |
Where the eye mixes weinen and weise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses weinen with weise
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weinen is [ˈvaɪ̯nən] while weise is [ˈvaɪ̯zə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weinen is recorded at frequency rank #3,862, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯nən]. weise is at rank #740, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯zə].
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 4602, this pair ranks #1,997,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weinen vs weise
Shared letters: eiw. Private to "weinen": n. Private to "weise": s.
"weinen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "weise" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "weinen" and "weise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "weinen" or "weise" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "weinen" and "weise" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "weinen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,997,230 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weinen" and "weise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weinen vs Weins". 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 #1,997,230 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.