widevswidmenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#20,128
“wide” frequency rank
#7,134
“widmen” frequency rank
27262
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wide widmen
Definition von großer Ausdehnung als Autor, Künstler oder Ähnliches ein eigenes Werk für jemand anderen bestimmen

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
wide
6 ch
widmen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wide is [waɪd] while widmen is [ˈvɪtmən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27262, 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]. widmen is at rank #7,134, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪtmən].

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 27262, this pair ranks #1,804,627 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wide vs widmen

Shared letters: deiw. Private to "wide": -. Private to "widmen": mn.

"wide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "widmen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wideiwde · wdie · widde · wwide
  • widmeniwdmen · wdimen · widdmen · widemn · widmenn · widmmen · widmne · wimden

Frequency comparison

wide#20,128
widmen#7,134

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wide" and "widmen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wide" is an adjective and "widmen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wide" or "widmen"?
"widmen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,134 in our German list, against #20,128 for "wide". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wide vs widmen

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 “widmen”.
  • 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