WohlevswohnenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Wohle is a noun, wohnen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Wohle” is a noun and “wohnen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,000
“Wohle” frequency rank
#1,619
“wohnen” frequency rank
16619
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wohle wohnen
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Wohl wesentliche Zeit seines Lebens an einem bestimmten, geschützten Ort verbringen

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Wohle
6 ch
wohnen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wohle is [ˈvoːlə] while wohnen is [ˈvoːnən]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wohle is recorded at frequency rank #15,000, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvoːlə]. wohnen is at rank #1,619, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvoːnən].

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 16619, this pair ranks #1,934,349 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wohle vs wohnen

Shared letters: ehow. Private to "Wohle": l. Private to "wohnen": n.

"Wohle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "wohnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wohleowhle · whole · wohel · wohhle · wohlle · wolhe · wwohle
  • wohnenowhnen · whonen · wohenn · wohhnen · wohnenn · wohnne · wohnnen · wonhen

Frequency comparison

Wohle#15,000
wohnen#1,619

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wohle" and "wohnen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wohle" is a noun and "wohnen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wohle" or "wohnen"?
"wohnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,619 in our German list, against #15,000 for "Wohle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wohle vs wohnen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wohle”; for a verb, it's “wohnen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wohle” 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