wiegenvswogegenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wiegen is a verb, wogegen is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wiegen” is a verb and “wogegen” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,205
“wiegen” frequency rank
#22,971
“wogegen” frequency rank
35176
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wiegen wogegen
Definition das Gewicht von jemandem oder etwas messen, schätzen gegen was

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wiegen and wogegen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wiegen
7 ch
wogegen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wiegen is [ˈviːɡn̩] while wogegen is [voˈɡeːɡn̩]. 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 (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wiegen is recorded at frequency rank #12,205, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈviːɡn̩]. wogegen is at rank #22,971, tagged as anadv, pronounced [voˈɡeːɡn̩].

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 35176, this pair ranks #1,646,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wiegen vs wogegen

Shared letters: egnw. Private to "wiegen": i. Private to "wogegen": o.

"wiegen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "wogegen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wiegeniwegen · wieegn · wiegenn · wieggen · wiegne · wigeen · wwiegen
  • wogegenowgegen · wgoegen · woeggen · wogeegn · wogegenn · wogeggen · wogegne · woggeen

Frequency comparison

wiegen#12,205
wogegen#22,971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wiegen" and "wogegen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wiegen" is a verb and "wogegen" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wiegen" or "wogegen"?
"wiegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,205 in our German list, against #22,971 for "wogegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wiegen vs wogegen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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