wenigvswenigeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wenig is a pronoun, wenige is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wenig” is a pronoun and “wenige” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#305
“wenig” frequency rank
#982
“wenige” frequency rank
1287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wenig wenige
Definition eine unbestimmte, kleine Anzahl oder Menge von etwas Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wenig

Where the eye mixes wenig and wenige

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
wenig
6 ch
wenige

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wenig is [ˈveːnɪç] while wenige is [ˈveːnɪɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “wenig” sits inside “wenige”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wenig is recorded at frequency rank #305, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈveːnɪç]. wenige is at rank #982, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈveːnɪɡə].

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 1287, this pair ranks #2,004,612 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wenig vs wenige

Shared letters: eginw. Private to "wenig": -. Private to "wenige": -.

"wenig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "wenige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wenigewnig · weing · wengi · wenigg · wennig · wneig · wwenig
  • wenigeewnige · weinge · wengie · wenieg · wenigge · wennige · wneige · wwenige

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wenig" and "wenige" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wenig" is a pronoun and "wenige" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wenig" or "wenige"?
"wenig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #305 in our German list, against #982 for "wenige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list