Which to use
“woher” is an adverb and “wohler” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,951
- “woher” frequency rank
- #25,844
- “wohler” frequency rank
- 27795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | woher | wohler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | leitet eine Frage nach der Herkunft ein | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs wohl |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set woher and wohler apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: woher is [voˈheːɐ̯] while wohler is [ˈvoːlɐ]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
woher is recorded at frequency rank #1,951, classified as anadv, pronounced [voˈheːɐ̯]. wohler is at rank #25,844, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvoːlɐ].
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 27795, this pair ranks #1,795,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of woher vs wohler
Shared letters: ehorw. Private to "woher": -. Private to "wohler": l.
"woher" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "wohler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "woher" and "wohler" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "woher" or "wohler"?
Remembering woher vs wohler
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “woher”; for an adjective, it's “wohler”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “woher” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable