wohnvsWotanTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#7,257
“wohn” frequency rank
#49,400
“Wotan” frequency rank
56657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wohn Wotan
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wohnen oberster germanischer Gott

Where the eye mixes wohn and Wotan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
wohn
5 ch
Wotan

Why the eye confuses wohn with Wotan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wohn is [voːn] while Wotan is [ˈvoːtaːn]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wohn is recorded at frequency rank #7,257, classified as averb, pronounced [voːn]. Wotan is at rank #49,400, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvoːtaːn].

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 56657, this pair ranks #931,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wohn vs Wotan

Shared letters: now. Private to "wohn": h. Private to "Wotan": at.

"wohn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Wotan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wohnowhn · whon · wohhn · wohnn · wonh · wwohn
  • Wotanowtan · woatn · wotann · wotna · wottan · wtoan · wwotan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wohn" and "Wotan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wohn" is a verb and "Wotan" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wohn" or "Wotan"?
"wohn" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,257 in our German list, against #49,400 for "Wotan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wohn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wotan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #931,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wohn" and "Wotan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wotan vs wüten". 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 #931,788 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