GewährvsGewehreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Gewähr” and “Gewehre” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,627
“Gewähr” frequency rank
#20,603
“Gewehre” frequency rank
42230
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gewähr Gewehre
Definition Sicherheit, Bürgschaft, Garantie Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Gewehr

Where the eye mixes Gewähr and Gewehre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Gewähr runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Gewehre's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Gewähr
7 ch
Gewehre

Why the eye confuses Gewähr with Gewehre

A purely visual mix-up. Gewähr ([ɡəˈvɛːɐ̯]) and Gewehre ([ɡəˈveːʁə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gewähr is recorded at frequency rank #21,627, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛːɐ̯]. Gewehre is at rank #20,603, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈveːʁə].

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 42230, this pair ranks #1,455,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gewähr vs Gewehre

Shared letters: eghrw. Private to "Gewähr": ä. Private to "Gewehre": -.

"Gewähr" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Gewehre" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gewehre ← egwehre · geewhre · geweher · gewehhre · gewehrre · gewerhe · gewhere · gewwehre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gewähr" and "Gewehre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈvɛːɐ̯] versus [ɡəˈveːʁə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gewähr" or "Gewehre"?
"Gewehre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,603 in our German list, against #21,627 for "Gewähr". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gewähr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gewehre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,455,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gewähr" and "Gewehre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gewehre vs Gewerke". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,455,729 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list