WeitenvsWeltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Weiten” and “Welten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,577
“Weiten” frequency rank
#6,376
“Welten” frequency rank
10953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weiten Welten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Weite Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Welt

Where the eye mixes Weiten and Welten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Weiten (CVVCVC) and Welten (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
Weiten
6 ch
Welten

Look-alike desk: Weiten vs Welten

A purely visual mix-up. Weiten ([ˈvaɪ̯tn̩]) and Welten ([ˈvɛltn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - i in “Weiten” becomes l in “Welten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weiten is recorded at frequency rank #4,577, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯tn̩]. Welten is at rank #6,376, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛltn̩].

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 10953, this pair ranks #1,972,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weiten vs Welten

Shared letters: entw. Private to "Weiten": i. Private to "Welten": l.

"Weiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Welten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weitenewiten · weietn · weitenn · weitne · weitten · wetien · wieten · wweiten
  • Weltenewlten · weletn · wellten · weltenn · weltne · weltten · wetlen · wleten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Weiten" and "Welten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯tn̩] versus [ˈvɛltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Weiten" or "Welten" show up more?
"Weiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,577 in our German list, against #6,376 for "Welten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Welten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,972,464 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weiten" and "Welten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weiten vs writer". 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 #1,972,464 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