WeiservswenigerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Weiser is a noun, weniger is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Weiser” is a noun and “weniger” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,602
“Weiser” frequency rank
#342
“weniger” frequency rank
16944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weiser weniger
Definition Mensch mit hoher (sozialer) Kompetenz oder großem Sachverstand Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wenig

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Weiser and weniger apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Weiser
7 ch
weniger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Weiser is [ˈvaɪ̯zɐ] while weniger is [ˈveːnɪɡɐ]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weiser is recorded at frequency rank #16,602, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯zɐ]. weniger is at rank #342, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈveːnɪɡɐ].

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 16944, this pair ranks #1,931,696 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weiser vs weniger

Shared letters: eirw. Private to "Weiser": s. Private to "weniger": gn.

"Weiser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "weniger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weiserewiser · weiesr · weiserr · weisre · weisser · wesier · wieser · wweiser
  • wenigerewniger · weinger · wengier · weniegr · wenigerr · wenigger · wenigre · wenniger

Frequency comparison

Weiser#16,602
weniger#342

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Weiser" and "weniger" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Weiser" is a noun and "weniger" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Weiser" or "weniger"?
"weniger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #342 in our German list, against #16,602 for "Weiser". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Weiser vs weniger

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Weiser”; for an adjective, it's “weniger”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Weiser” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list