WachevswachsenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,485
“Wache” frequency rank
#2,868
“wachsen” frequency rank
11353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wache wachsen
Definition Beobachtung von jemandem oder etwas zwecks Kontrolle oder zur Erhöhung der Sicherheit allmählich größer werden; von der Größe, vom Umfang her zunehmen

Where the eye mixes Wache and wachsen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Wache
7 ch
wachsen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wache is [ˈvaxə] while wachsen is [ˈvaksn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 11353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wache is recorded at frequency rank #8,485, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaxə]. wachsen is at rank #2,868, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaksn̩].

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 11353, this pair ranks #1,970,336 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wache vs wachsen

Shared letters: acehw. Private to "Wache": -. Private to "wachsen": ns.

"Wache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "wachsen" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wacheawche · wacche · waceh · wachhe · wahce · wcahe · wwache
  • wachsenawchsen · wacchsen · wachesn · wachhsen · wachsenn · wachsne · wachssen · wacshen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wache" and "wachsen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wache" is a noun and "wachsen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wache" or "wachsen"?
"wachsen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,868 in our German list, against #8,485 for "Wache". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Wache" and "wachsen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wache" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wachsen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,970,336 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wache" and "wachsen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wache vs waste". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list