Which to use
“Wachau” is a name and “wachte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,115
- “Wachau” frequency rank
- #30,862
- “wachte” frequency rank
- 77977
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Wachau | wachte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Flusslandschaft (Durchbruchtal der Donau) in Niederösterreich, seit 2000 als UNESCO-Welterbe geführt | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wachen |
Where the eye mixes Wachau and wachte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Wachau (CVCCVV) and wachte (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Wachau and wachte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wachau is [vaˈxaʊ̯] while wachte is [ˈvaxtə]. 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 77977, 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]. wachte is at rank #30,862, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaxtə].
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 77977, this pair ranks #248,573 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Wachau vs wachte
Shared letters: achw. Private to "Wachau": u. Private to "wachte": et.
"Wachau" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "wachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Wachau" for "wachte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Wachau" or "wachte"?
What to do next
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 "wachte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,573 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Wachau" and "wachte" 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 #248,573 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.