wieder or wider?
b1One letter e apart, two meanings: wieder means again and is everyday, wider means against and survives almost only in fixed expressions like Widerspruch, Widerstand and wider Erwarten.
wieder
Again, once more. It sits inside wiederholen, wiedersehen, wiederkommen - and in the farewell auf Wiedersehen.
Sag das bitte noch einmal, ich habe es wieder vergessen.Please say that again, I have forgotten it once more.
wider
Against, contrary to. As a preposition with the accusative it is rare and formal; it is common in compounds: Widerspruch, Widerstand, widerlegen, widerlich.
Wider Erwarten hat es doch geklappt.Against expectations it worked out after all.
The mistake
Ich muss die Vokabeln widerholen.
Ich muss die Vokabeln wiederholen.
The meaning is to do it again, so wieder with the e. Widerholen with one e does not exist - but widersprechen and widerstehen do, where against really is the meaning.
Rule of thumb
Try substituting once more. If it fits, write wieder with the e. If against fits better, it is wider.
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