Which to use
“Willen” is a noun and “wollen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,004
- “Willen” frequency rank
- #182
- “wollen” frequency rank
- 2186
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Willen | wollen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Wille | entschieden haben und deswegen vorhaben beziehungsweise den Vorsatz haben, etwas zu tun, um etwas zu erlangen oder zu erreichen |
Where the eye mixes Willen and wollen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Willen and wollen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Willen is [ˈvɪlən] while wollen is [ˈvɔlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “Willen” becomes o in “wollen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Willen is recorded at frequency rank #2,004, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪlən]. wollen is at rank #182, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɔlən].
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 2186, this pair ranks #2,002,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Willen vs wollen
Shared letters: elnw. Private to "Willen": i. Private to "wollen": o.
"Willen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Willen" and "wollen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Willen" or "wollen"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Willen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wollen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,002,910 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Willen" and "wollen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs Willen". 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 #2,002,910 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.