Wen or when?
wen is a noun meaning “A cyst on the skin; a tumor or wart”; when is an adverb meaning “At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to…”. Use wen as a noun and when as an adverb (when is also a noun: “The time at which something happens”). They sound the same (/wɛn/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) when is about 759 times as common as wen.
What is the difference between wen and when?
| wen | when | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adverb, conjunction, pronoun | adverb, conjunction, pronoun, noun, interjection |
| Meaning | A cyst on the skin; a tumor or wart | At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time Used after a noun or noun phrase in isolation to express impatience with an anticipated future event At (or as soon as) that time that; at the (or any and every) time that; if |
| Example | none recorded | When will they arrive? |
| Forms | wens | none |
| Pronunciation | /wɛn/ | /ˈwɛn/ [ˈwɛn] /ˈwɪn/ |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words | 2,344 times per million words |
Sources: wen and when in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of wen and when
wen
- 1
A cyst on the skin; a tumor or wart
- 2
Alternative spelling of when
- 3
Alternative spelling of when
- 4
Alternative spelling of when
- 5
Alternative spelling of when
when
- 1
At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time
When will they arrive?
- 2
At (or as soon as) that time that; at the (or any and every) time that; if
Pavlov's dogs salivate when [i.e. at any and every time that] they hear a bell
- 3
What time; which time
Since when do I need your permission?
- 4
The time at which something happens
A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how
- 5
That's enough: a command asking someone to stop adding something, especially an ingredient or portion of food or drink; used in, or as if in, literal response to ‘Say when’
- 6
Used after a noun or noun phrase in isolation to express impatience with an anticipated future event
The site's all bugged. Fix when?
- 7
During the time that; at the time of the action of the following clause or participle phrase
They dream when [i.e. during the time that] they sleep
- 8
At an earlier time and under different, usually less favorable, circumstances
He's mister high and mighty now, but I remember him when
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, wen or when?
wen appears 3.1 times per million words; when 2,344 times per million words.
wen 3.1 times per million wordswhen 2,344 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).