WünschevswünschenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,440
“Wünsche” frequency rank
#1,465
“wünschen” frequency rank
2905
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wünsche wünschen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Wunsch etwas ersehnen, erhoffen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wünsche and wünschen apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Wünsche
8 ch
wünschen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wünsche is [ˈvʏnʃə] while wünschen is [ˈvʏnʃn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Wünsche” sits inside “wünschen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wünsche is recorded at frequency rank #1,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʏnʃə]. wünschen is at rank #1,465, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʏnʃn̩].

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 2905, this pair ranks #2,001,346 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wünsche vs wünschen

Shared letters: cehnswü. Private to "Wünsche": -. Private to "wünschen": -.

"Wünsche" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "wünschen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC

Frequency comparison

Wünsche#1,440
wünschen#1,465

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wünsche" and "wünschen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wünsche" is a noun and "wünschen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wünsche" or "wünschen"?
"Wünsche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,440 in our German list, against #1,465 for "wünschen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wünsche vs wünschen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wünsche”; for a verb, it's “wünschen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wünsche” 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