Which to use
“wachse” and “wachte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,127
- “wachse” frequency rank
- #30,862
- “wachte” frequency rank
- 69989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wachse | wachte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wachsen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wachen |
Where the eye mixes wachse and wachte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. wachse and wachte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between wachse and wachte
A purely visual mix-up. wachse ([ˈvaksə]) and wachte ([ˈvaxtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - s in “wachse” becomes t in “wachte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wachse is recorded at frequency rank #39,127, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaksə]. 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 69989, this pair ranks #459,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of wachse vs wachte
Shared letters: acehw. Private to "wachse": s. Private to "wachte": t.
"wachse" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "wachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wachse" and "wachte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "wachse" vs "wachte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wachse" 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 #459,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wachse" 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 #459,860 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.