widervswindetWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wider is a preposition, windet is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wider” is a preposition and “windet” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,132
“wider” frequency rank
#39,727
“windet” frequency rank
44859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wider windet
Definition drückt einen Gegensatz aus 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs winden

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
wider
6 ch
windet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wider is [ˈviːdɐ] while windet is [ˈvɪndət]. 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 (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wider is recorded at frequency rank #5,132, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈviːdɐ]. windet is at rank #39,727, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪndət].

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 44859, this pair ranks #1,372,373 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wider vs windet

Shared letters: deiw. Private to "wider": r. Private to "windet": nt.

"wider" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "windet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wideriwder · wdier · widerr · widre · wiedr · wwider
  • windetiwndet · widnet · winddet · windett · windte · winedt · winndet · wnidet

Frequency comparison

wider#5,132
windet#39,727

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wider" and "windet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wider" is a preposition and "windet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wider" or "windet"?
"wider" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,132 in our German list, against #39,727 for "windet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wider vs windet

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “wider”; for a verb, it's “windet”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wider” 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