wenigvswenigerWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#305
“wenig” frequency rank
#342
“weniger” frequency rank
647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes wenig and weniger

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

5 ch
wenig
7 ch
weniger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wenig is [ˈveːnɪç] while weniger is [ˈveːnɪɡɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “wenig” sits inside “weniger”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wenig is recorded at frequency rank #305, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈveːnɪç]. 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 647, this pair ranks #2,005,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wenig vs weniger

Shared letters: eginw. Private to "wenig": -. Private to "weniger": r.

"wenig" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "weniger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wenigewnig · weing · wengi · wenigg · wennig · wneig · wwenig
  • wenigerewniger · weinger · wengier · weniegr · wenigerr · wenigger · wenigre · wenniger

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wenig" and "weniger" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wenig" is a pronoun and "weniger" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wenig" or "weniger"?
"wenig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #305 in our German list, against #342 for "weniger". 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