wiedervsWieselWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wieder is a adverb, Wiesel is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wieder” is an adverb and “Wiesel” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#78
“wieder” frequency rank
#42,953
“Wiesel” frequency rank
43031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wieder Wiesel
Definition ein oder mehrere weitere Male zierlicher, flinker, dem Hermelin nahe verwandter Marder

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
wieder
6 ch
Wiesel

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wieder is [ˈviːdɐ] while Wiesel is [ˈviːzl̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wieder is recorded at frequency rank #78, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈviːdɐ]. Wiesel is at rank #42,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈviːzl̩].

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 43031, this pair ranks #1,430,753 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wieder vs Wiesel

Shared letters: eiw. Private to "wieder": dr. Private to "Wiesel": ls.

"wieder" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Wiesel" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wiederiweder · weider · wideer · wiedder · wiederr · wiedre · wieedr · wwieder
  • Wieseliwesel · weisel · wieesl · wiesell · wiesle · wiessel · wiseel · wwiesel

Frequency comparison

wieder#78
Wiesel#42,953

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wieder" and "Wiesel" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wieder" is an adverb and "Wiesel" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wieder" or "Wiesel"?
"wieder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #78 in our German list, against #42,953 for "Wiesel". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wieder vs Wiesel

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “wieder”; for a noun, it's “Wiesel”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wieder” 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