Which to use
“Wachau” is a name and “wachen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,115
- “Wachau” frequency rank
- #10,970
- “wachen” frequency rank
- 58085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wachau | wachen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Flusslandschaft (Durchbruchtal der Donau) in Niederösterreich, seit 2000 als UNESCO-Welterbe geführt | nicht schlafen, ohne Schlaf bleiben |
Where the eye mixes Wachau and wachen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Wachau (CVCCVV) and wachen (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Wachau and wachen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wachau is [vaˈxaʊ̯] while wachen is [ˈvaxn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Wachau is recorded at frequency rank #47,115, classified as aname, pronounced [vaˈxaʊ̯]. wachen is at rank #10,970, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaxn̩].
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 58085, this pair ranks #876,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Wachau vs wachen
Shared letters: achw. Private to "Wachau": u. Private to "wachen": en.
"Wachau" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "wachen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Wachau" for "wachen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Wachau" vs "wachen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Wachau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wachen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #876,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wachau" and "wachen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wachau vs wachse". 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 #876,457 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.