WendevsWunderTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,397
“Wende” frequency rank
#1,797
“Wunder” frequency rank
6194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wende Wunder
Definition einschneidende Veränderung, Umbruch etwas, das über das alltägliche Verständnis hinausgeht; eine Überschreitung der anerkannten Naturgesetze

Where the eye mixes Wende and Wunder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Wende
6 ch
Wunder

Why the eye confuses Wende with Wunder

A purely visual mix-up. Wende ([ˈvɛndə]) and Wunder ([ˈvʊndɐ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wende is recorded at frequency rank #4,397, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛndə]. Wunder is at rank #1,797, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʊndɐ].

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 6194, this pair ranks #1,992,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wende vs Wunder

Shared letters: denw. Private to "Wende": -. Private to "Wunder": ru.

"Wende" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Wunder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wendeewnde · wedne · wendde · wened · wennde · wnede · wwende
  • Wunderuwnder · wnuder · wudner · wundder · wunderr · wundre · wunedr · wunnder

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wende" and "Wunder" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛndə] versus [ˈvʊndɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Wende" vs "Wunder" - which ranks higher?
"Wunder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,797 in our German list, against #4,397 for "Wende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wunder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,992,414 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wende" and "Wunder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wende vs went". 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 #1,992,414 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