Which to use
“wach” is an adjective and “welch” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,867
- “wach” frequency rank
- #4,845
- “welch” frequency rank
- 7712
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wach | welch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht schlafend, bereits aus dem Schlaf erwacht oder noch nicht eingeschlafen | mit unmittelbar folgendem Adjektiv: Wort zur besonderen Hervorhebung einer Eigenschaft |
Where the eye mixes wach and welch
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. wach runs 4 letters (CVCC) against welch's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses wach with welch
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wach is [vax] while welch is [vɛlç]. 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 (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wach is recorded at frequency rank #2,867, classified as anadj, pronounced [vax]. welch is at rank #4,845, tagged as apron, pronounced [vɛlç].
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 7712, this pair ranks #1,987,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wach vs welch
Shared letters: chw. Private to "wach": a. Private to "welch": el.
"wach" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "welch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wach" and "welch" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wach" or "welch"?
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 "wach" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "welch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,987,182 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wach" and "welch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "welch vs witch". 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 #1,987,182 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.