VasenvsVäternWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,992
“Vasen” frequency rank
#26,230
“Vätern” frequency rank
54222
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vasen Vätern
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vase Dativ Plural des Substantivs Vater

Where the eye mixes Vasen and Vätern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Vasen
6 ch
Vätern

Look-alike desk: Vasen vs Vätern

A purely visual mix-up. Vasen ([ˈvaːzn̩]) and Vätern ([ˈfɛːtɐn]) 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 54222, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vasen is recorded at frequency rank #27,992, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaːzn̩]. Vätern is at rank #26,230, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛːtɐn].

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 54222, this pair ranks #1,027,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Vasen vs Vätern

Shared letters: env. Private to "Vasen": as. Private to "Vätern": rtä.

"Vasen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Vätern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vasenavsen · vaesn · vasenn · vasne · vassen · vsaen · vvasen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vasen" for "Vätern" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaːzn̩] versus [ˈfɛːtɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Vasen" vs "Vätern" - which ranks higher?
"Vätern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,230 in our German list, against #27,992 for "Vasen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vasen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vätern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,027,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vasen" and "Vätern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vas vs Vasen". 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 #1,027,354 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