Which to use
“willigen” is a verb and “witzigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,737
- “willigen” frequency rank
- #25,402
- “witzigen” frequency rank
- 62139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | willigen | witzigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (freiwillig, mit Freude, willig) seine Einwilligung erklären | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs witzig |
Where the eye mixes willigen and witzigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: willigen vs witzigen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: willigen is [ˈvɪlɪɡn̩] while witzigen is [ˈvɪt͡sɪɡn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
willigen is recorded at frequency rank #36,737, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪlɪɡn̩]. witzigen is at rank #25,402, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɪt͡sɪɡn̩].
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 62139, this pair ranks #723,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of willigen vs witzigen
Shared letters: eginw. Private to "willigen": l. Private to "witzigen": tz.
"willigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "witzigen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "willigen" for "witzigen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "willigen" vs "witzigen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "willigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "witzigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #723,793 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "willigen" and "witzigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "widrigen vs willigen". 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 #723,793 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.