weisvsWiensTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#7,848
“weis” frequency rank
#16,880
“Wiens” frequency rank
24728
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weis Wiens
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs weisen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Wien

Where the eye mixes weis and Wiens

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
weis
5 ch
Wiens

Visual trap between weis and Wiens

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weis is [vaɪ̯s] while Wiens is [viːns]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weis is recorded at frequency rank #7,848, classified as averb, pronounced [vaɪ̯s]. Wiens is at rank #16,880, tagged as anoun, pronounced [viːns].

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 24728, this pair ranks #1,843,576 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of weis vs Wiens

Shared letters: eisw. Private to "weis": -. Private to "Wiens": n.

"weis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Wiens" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weisewis · weiss · wesi · wies · wweis
  • Wiensiwens · wienns · wienss · wines · wwiens

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "weis" and "Wiens" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weis" is a verb and "Wiens" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weis" or "Wiens"?
"weis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,848 in our German list, against #16,880 for "Wiens". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "weis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wiens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,843,576 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weis" and "Wiens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs Wiens". 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 #1,843,576 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