when
/ˈwɛn/
"when" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“when” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #48. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #48
- frequency rank, English
- 1,759
- “W” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.
Corpus desk
Index EN-when · when · English
when · rank #48 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #48
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,759
- PHOTO-FINISH has
Nearest frequency peer: has (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “when”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- out
out
99,956 corpus weight
- what
what
99,955 corpus weight
- has
has
99,954 corpus weight
- when
when
99,953 corpus weight
- more
more
99,952 corpus weight
- do
do
99,951 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “when” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | when |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈwɛn/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #48 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “when” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around when (IPA /ˈwɛn/), anadverb. Corpus frequency is #48 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for when, with forms such as "hwen", "wehn", and "whenn". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "who", "why", "win", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base). Cognate with Scots whan… The correct English form is when, spelled W-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.
- 2At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.
- 3At an earlier time and under different, usually less favorable, circumstances.
- 4At which, on which, during which: often omitted or replaced with that.
- 5The time at, on or during which.
- 6A circumstance or situation in which.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how when appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
When will they arrive?
Do you know when they arrived?
Etymology
From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base). Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who. Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- hwen
- wehn
- whenn
- whhen
- whne
- wwhen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of when - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "when"?
What does "when" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "when", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "when". Here's where to go from here.
- "when" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "who". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #48 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "W" letter cohort. W–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.