Which to use
“wollen” is a verb and “worden” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #182
- “wollen” frequency rank
- #285
- “worden” frequency rank
- 467
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wollen | worden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | entschieden haben und deswegen vorhaben beziehungsweise den Vorsatz haben, etwas zu tun, um etwas zu erlangen oder zu erreichen | Partizip Perfekt von werden als Hilfsverb. In diesem Fall steckt die Hauptaussage in dem Verb, das mit Hilfe von worden ins Perfekt gesetzt wurde, - anders als bei dem zweiten Partizip Perfekt zu werden: geworden. |
Where the eye mixes wollen and worden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wollen is [ˈvɔlən] while worden is [ˈvɔʁdən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wollen is recorded at frequency rank #182, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɔlən]. worden is at rank #285, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈvɔʁdən].
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 467, this pair ranks #2,005,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wollen vs worden
Shared letters: enow. Private to "wollen": l. Private to "worden": dr.
"wollen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "worden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wollen" and "worden" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "wollen" or "worden"?
What to do next
You've compared "wollen" and "worden". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "wollen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "worden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,005,813 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wollen" and "worden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs wollen". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.