widevswidmeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wide is a adjective, widme is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wide” is an adjective and “widme” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,128
“wide” frequency rank
#37,308
“widme” frequency rank
57436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wide widme
Definition von großer Ausdehnung 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs widmen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wide and widme apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
wide
5 ch
widme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wide is [waɪd] while widme is [ˈvɪtmə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wide is recorded at frequency rank #20,128, classified as anadj, pronounced [waɪd]. widme is at rank #37,308, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪtmə].

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 57436, this pair ranks #901,428 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wide vs widme

Shared letters: deiw. Private to "wide": -. Private to "widme": m.

"wide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "widme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wideiwde · wdie · widde · wwide
  • widmeiwdme · wdime · widdme · widem · widmme · wimde · wwidme

Frequency comparison

wide#20,128
widme#37,308

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wide" and "widme" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wide" is an adjective and "widme" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wide" or "widme"?
"wide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,128 in our German list, against #37,308 for "widme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wide vs widme

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “wide”; for a verb, it's “widme”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wide” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list