Which to use
“wachse” and “wähle” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,127
- “wachse” frequency rank
- #7,853
- “wähle” frequency rank
- 46980
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wachse | wähle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wachsen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wählen |
Where the eye mixes wachse and wähle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. wachse runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against wähle's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wachse and wähle
A purely visual mix-up. wachse ([ˈvaksə]) and wähle ([ˈvɛːlə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46980, 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]. wähle is at rank #7,853, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːlə].
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 46980, this pair ranks #1,300,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wachse vs wähle
Shared letters: ehw. Private to "wachse": acs. Private to "wähle": lä.
"wachse" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "wähle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- wachse ← awchse · wacchse · waches · wachhse · wachsse · wacshe · wahcse · wcahse
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wachse" and "wähle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wachse" or "wähle"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "wachse" and "wähle" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wachse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wähle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,300,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wachse" and "wähle" 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 #1,300,308 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.