Which to use
“wachse” is a verb and “Wächter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,127
- “wachse” frequency rank
- #12,003
- “Wächter” frequency rank
- 51130
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wachse | Wächter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wachsen | Person, die etwas oder jemanden bewacht |
Where the eye mixes wachse and Wächter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wachse runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against Wächter's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wachse and Wächter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wachse is [ˈvaksə] while Wächter is [ˈvɛçtɐ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51130, 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]. Wächter is at rank #12,003, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛçtɐ].
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 51130, this pair ranks #1,147,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wachse vs Wächter
Shared letters: cehw. Private to "wachse": as. Private to "Wächter": rtä.
"wachse" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "Wächter" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wachse ← awchse · wacchse · waches · wachhse · wachsse · wacshe · wahcse · wcahse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wachse" for "Wächter" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "wachse" or "Wächter" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "Wächter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,147,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wachse" and "Wächter" 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 #1,147,305 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.