WohnbauvsWohnhausWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,372
“Wohnbau” frequency rank
#8,659
“Wohnhaus” frequency rank
41031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wohnbau Wohnhaus
Definition Errichtung eines Wohngebäudes Haus, das zum Bewohnen gedacht ist

Where the eye mixes Wohnbau and Wohnhaus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Wohnbau runs 7 letters (CVCCCVV) against Wohnhaus's 8 (CVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Wohnbau
8 ch
Wohnhaus

Look-alike desk: Wohnbau vs Wohnhaus

A purely visual mix-up. Wohnbau ([ˈvoːnˌbaʊ̯]) and Wohnhaus ([ˈvoːnˌhaʊ̯s]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wohnbau is recorded at frequency rank #32,372, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvoːnˌbaʊ̯]. Wohnhaus is at rank #8,659, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvoːnˌhaʊ̯s].

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 41031, this pair ranks #1,491,313 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Wohnbau vs Wohnhaus

Shared letters: ahnouw. Private to "Wohnbau": b. Private to "Wohnhaus": s.

"Wohnbau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV  ·  "Wohnhaus" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wohnbau ← owhnbau · whonbau · wohbnau · wohhnbau · wohnabu · wohnbbau · wohnbua · wohnnbau
  • Wohnhaus ← owhnhaus · whonhaus · wohhnaus · wohhnhaus · wohnahus · wohnhasu · wohnhauss · wohnhhaus

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Wohnbau" and "Wohnhaus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvoːnˌbaʊ̯] versus [ˈvoːnˌhaʊ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Wohnbau" vs "Wohnhaus" - which ranks higher?
"Wohnhaus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,659 in our German list, against #32,372 for "Wohnbau". 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 "Wohnbau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wohnhaus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,491,313 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wohnbau" and "Wohnhaus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weinbau vs Wohnbau". 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 #1,491,313 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