Which to use
“when” is an adverb and “wohnen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,658
- “when” frequency rank
- #1,619
- “wohnen” frequency rank
- 10277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | when | wohnen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wann | wesentliche Zeit seines Lebens an einem bestimmten, geschützten Ort verbringen |
Where the eye mixes when and wohnen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. when runs 4 letters (CCVC) against wohnen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: when vs wohnen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: when is [wɛn] while wohnen is [ˈvoːnən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10277, 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]. wohnen is at rank #1,619, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvoːnən].
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 10277, this pair ranks #1,975,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of when vs wohnen
Shared letters: ehnw. Private to "when": -. Private to "wohnen": o.
"when" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "wohnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "when" and "wohnen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "when" or "wohnen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "when" and "wohnen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "when" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wohnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,975,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "when" and "wohnen" 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 #1,975,922 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.