GewährvsgewehrtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Gewähr is a noun, gewehrt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gewähr” is a noun and “gewehrt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,627
“Gewähr” frequency rank
#20,604
“gewehrt” frequency rank
42231
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gewähr gewehrt
Definition Sicherheit, Bürgschaft, Garantie Partizip Perfekt des Verbs wehren

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Gewähr and gewehrt apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Gewähr
7 ch
gewehrt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gewähr is [ɡəˈvɛːɐ̯] while gewehrt is [ɡəˈveːɐ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42231, 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]. gewehrt is at rank #20,604, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈveːɐ̯t].

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 42231, this pair ranks #1,455,697 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gewähr vs gewehrt

Shared letters: eghrw. Private to "Gewähr": ä. Private to "gewehrt": t.

"Gewähr" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gewehrt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gewehrtegwehrt · geewhrt · gewehhrt · gewehrrt · gewehrtt · gewehtr · gewerht · gewhert

Frequency comparison

Gewähr#21,627
gewehrt#20,604

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gewähr" and "gewehrt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gewähr" is a noun and "gewehrt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gewähr" or "gewehrt"?
"gewehrt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,604 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.

Remembering Gewähr vs gewehrt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Gewähr”; for a verb, it's “gewehrt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Gewähr” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list