Which to use
“when” and “woher” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,658
- “when” frequency rank
- #1,951
- “woher” frequency rank
- 10609
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | when | woher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wann | leitet eine Frage nach der Herkunft ein |
Where the eye mixes when and woher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses when with woher
A purely visual mix-up. when ([wɛn]) and woher ([voˈheːɐ̯]) 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 10609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
when is recorded at frequency rank #8,658, classified as anadv, pronounced [wɛn]. woher is at rank #1,951, tagged as anadv, pronounced [voˈheːɐ̯].
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 10609, this pair ranks #1,974,285 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of when vs woher
Shared letters: ehw. Private to "when": n. Private to "woher": or.
"when" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "woher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "when" and "woher" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "when" vs "woher" - which ranks higher?
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 "when" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "woher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,974,285 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "when" and "woher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs when". 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 #1,974,285 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.