wendenvswindeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,554
“wenden” frequency rank
#13,741
“winde” frequency rank
17295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wenden winde
Definition Vergangenheitsform „wendete“ 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs winden

Where the eye mixes wenden and winde

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

6 ch
wenden
5 ch
winde

Look-alike desk: wenden vs winde

A purely visual mix-up. wenden ([ˈvɛndn̩]) and winde ([ˈvɪndə]) 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 17295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wenden is recorded at frequency rank #3,554, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛndn̩]. winde is at rank #13,741, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪndə].

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 17295, this pair ranks #1,928,639 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wenden vs winde

Shared letters: denw. Private to "wenden": -. Private to "winde": i.

"wenden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "winde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wendenewnden · wednen · wendden · wendenn · wendne · wenedn · wennden · wneden
  • windeiwnde · widne · windde · wined · winnde · wnide · wwinde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "wenden" for "winde" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛndn̩] versus [ˈvɪndə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wenden" or "winde"?
"wenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,554 in our German list, against #13,741 for "winde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "wenden" and "winde" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "winde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,928,639 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wenden" and "winde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "winde vs wirre". 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 #1,928,639 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