wichvswigWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: wich is a verb, wig is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wich” is a verb and “wig” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,451
“wich” frequency rank
#46,402
“wig” frequency rank
65853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wich wig
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weichen die Perücke

Where the eye mixes wich and wig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
wich
3 ch
wig

Visual trap between wich and wig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wich is [vɪç] while wig is [wɪɡ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wich is recorded at frequency rank #19,451, classified as averb, pronounced [vɪç]. wig is at rank #46,402, tagged as anoun, pronounced [wɪɡ].

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 65853, this pair ranks #592,753 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wich vs wig

Shared letters: iw. Private to "wich": ch. Private to "wig": g.

"wich" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wig" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wichiwch · wcih · wicch · wichh · wihc · wwich

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "wich" for "wig" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wich" is a verb and "wig" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "wich" vs "wig" - which ranks higher?
"wich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,451 in our German list, against #46,402 for "wig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #592,753 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wich" and "wig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wig vs wit". 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 #592,753 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list