wildenvsWillemWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wilden is a adjective, Willem is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wilden” is an adjective and “Willem” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,235
“wilden” frequency rank
#30,873
“Willem” frequency rank
36108
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wilden Willem
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wild männlicher Vorname

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
wilden
6 ch
Willem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: wilden is anadjective and Willemaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wilden is recorded at frequency rank #5,235, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪldn̩]. Willem is at rank #30,873, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 36108, this pair ranks #1,623,706 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wilden vs Willem

Shared letters: eilw. Private to "wilden": dn. Private to "Willem": m.

"wilden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Willem" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wildeniwlden · widlen · wildden · wildenn · wildne · wiledn · willden · wliden
  • Willemiwllem · wilelm · wilem · willemm · willme · wlilem · wwillem

Frequency comparison

wilden#5,235
Willem#30,873

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wilden" and "Willem" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wilden" is an adjective and "Willem" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wilden" or "Willem"?
"wilden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,235 in our German list, against #30,873 for "Willem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wilden vs Willem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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