widersprechevswidersprechenTell them apart

Which to use

“widerspreche” and “widersprechen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,881
“widerspreche” frequency rank
#6,995
“widersprechen” frequency rank
38876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature widerspreche widersprechen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs widersprechen auf eine Aussage mit einer gegenteiligen Aussage antworten

Where the eye mixes widerspreche and widersprechen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. widerspreche runs 12 letters (CVCVCCCCVCCV) against widersprechen's 13 (CVCVCCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
widerspreche
13 ch
widersprechen

Look-alike desk: widerspreche vs widersprechen

A purely visual mix-up. widerspreche ([ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçə]) and widersprechen ([ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “widerspreche” sits inside “widersprechen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

widerspreche is recorded at frequency rank #31,881, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçə]. widersprechen is at rank #6,995, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçn̩].

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 38876, this pair ranks #1,552,292 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of widerspreche vs widersprechen

Shared letters: cdehiprsw. Private to "widerspreche": -. Private to "widersprechen": n.

"widerspreche" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVCCV  ·  "widersprechen" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • widerspreche ← iwderspreche · wdierspreche · widderspreche · widerpsreche · widerrspreche · widersperche · widersppreche · widersprcehe
  • widersprechen ← iwdersprechen · wdiersprechen · widdersprechen · widerpsrechen · widerrsprechen · widersperchen · widerspprechen · widersprcehen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "widerspreche" and "widersprechen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçə] versus [ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "widerspreche" or "widersprechen" show up more?
"widersprechen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,995 in our German list, against #31,881 for "widerspreche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "widerspreche" and "widersprechen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "widerspreche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "widersprechen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,552,292 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "widerspreche" and "widersprechen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "widerspreche vs Widersprüchen". 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 #1,552,292 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