WitzevsWitzenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Witze” and “Witzen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,478
“Witze” frequency rank
#33,916
“Witzen” frequency rank
38394
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Witze Witzen
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Witz Dativ Plural des Substantivs Witz

Where the eye mixes Witze and Witzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Witze
6 ch
Witzen

Why the eye confuses Witze with Witzen

A purely visual mix-up. Witze ([ˈvɪt͡sə]) and Witzen ([ˈvɪt͡sn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Witze” sits inside “Witzen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Witze is recorded at frequency rank #4,478, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪt͡sə]. Witzen is at rank #33,916, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪt͡sn̩].

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 38394, this pair ranks #1,565,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Witze vs Witzen

Shared letters: eitwz. Private to "Witze": -. Private to "Witzen": n.

"Witze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Witzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Witzeiwtze · witez · wittze · witzze · wizte · wtize · wwitze
  • Witzeniwtzen · witezn · wittzen · witzenn · witzne · witzzen · wizten · wtizen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Witze" and "Witzen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɪt͡sə] versus [ˈvɪt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Witze" or "Witzen"?
"Witze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,478 in our German list, against #33,916 for "Witzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Witze" and "Witzen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Witze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Witzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,565,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Witze" and "Witzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Witzen vs written". 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 #1,565,139 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list