Which to use
“wohnen” and “wühlen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,619
- “wohnen” frequency rank
- #30,397
- “wühlen” frequency rank
- 32016
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wohnen | wühlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | wesentliche Zeit seines Lebens an einem bestimmten, geschützten Ort verbringen | meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben |
Where the eye mixes wohnen and wühlen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wohnen and wühlen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between wohnen and wühlen
A purely visual mix-up. wohnen ([ˈvoːnən]) and wühlen ([ˈvyːlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wohnen is recorded at frequency rank #1,619, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvoːnən]. 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 32016, this pair ranks #1,716,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wohnen vs wühlen
Shared letters: ehnw. Private to "wohnen": o. Private to "wühlen": lü.
"wohnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wohnen ← owhnen · whonen · wohenn · wohhnen · wohnenn · wohnne · wohnnen · wonhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wohnen" and "wühlen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "wohnen" vs "wühlen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wohnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wühlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,716,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wohnen" and "wühlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs wühlen". 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 #1,716,488 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.