WohlevswühlenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,000
“Wohle” frequency rank
#30,397
“wühlen” frequency rank
45397
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wohle wühlen
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Wohl meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Wohle
6 ch
wühlen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wohle is [ˈvoːlə] while wühlen is [ˈvyːlən]. 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 45397, 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]. wühlen is at rank #30,397, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːlən].

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 45397, this pair ranks #1,354,428 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Wohle vs wühlen

Shared letters: ehlw. Private to "Wohle": o. Private to "wühlen": .

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wohleowhle · whole · wohel · wohhle · wohlle · wolhe · wwohle

Frequency comparison

Wohle#15,000
wühlen#30,397

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wohle" and "wühlen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wohle" is a noun and "wühlen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wohle" or "wühlen"?
"Wohle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,000 in our German list, against #30,397 for "wühlen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wohle vs wühlen

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 “wühlen”.
  • 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