when
\ˈwɛn\
The verdict
“when” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #10,973 in French word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #10,973
- frequency rank, French
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Quand.
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 | French |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | \ˈwɛn\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,973 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “when” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for when is 4 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ˈwɛn\. Corpus data places it at rank #10,973 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Quand.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for when, with forms such as "hwen", "wehn", and "whenn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "who", "why", "win", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is when, spelled W-H-E-N.
Definition
- 1Quand.
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 - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “when”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is W-H-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ˈwɛn\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “who” - see the side-by-side comparison. when vs who
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.