Which to use
“when” is an adverb and “won” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,658
- “when” frequency rank
- #25,404
- “won” frequency rank
- 34062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | when | won |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wann | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs win |
Letter map: when vs won
Shared letters muted; letters that set when and won apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: when vs won
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: when is anadverb and wonaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34062, 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]. won is at rank #25,404, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
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 34062, this pair ranks #1,671,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of when vs won
Shared letters: nw. Private to "when": eh. Private to "won": o.
"when" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "won" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- when ← hwen · wehn · whenn · whhen · whne · wwhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "when" for "won" ever safe?
Frequency check: "when" vs "won" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "when" and "won". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "when" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "won" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,671,849 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "when" and "won" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs won". 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 #1,671,849 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.