WachevswäschtWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,485
“Wache” frequency rank
#19,778
“wäscht” frequency rank
28263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wache wäscht
Definition Beobachtung von jemandem oder etwas zwecks Kontrolle oder zur Erhöhung der Sicherheit 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs waschen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wache and wäscht apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Wache
6 ch
wäscht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wache is [ˈvaxə] while wäscht is [vɛʃt]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28263, 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]. wäscht is at rank #19,778, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɛʃt].

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 28263, this pair ranks #1,787,841 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wache vs wäscht

Shared letters: chw. Private to "Wache": ae. Private to "wäscht": stä.

"Wache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "wäscht" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wacheawche · wacche · waceh · wachhe · wahce · wcahe · wwache

Frequency comparison

Wache#8,485
wäscht#19,778

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wache" and "wäscht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wache" is a noun and "wäscht" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wache" or "wäscht"?
"Wache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,485 in our German list, against #19,778 for "wäscht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wache vs wäscht

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wache”; for a verb, it's “wäscht”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wache” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list