Which to use
“wächst” and “wäscht” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,751
- “wächst” frequency rank
- #19,778
- “wäscht” frequency rank
- 22529
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wächst | wäscht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wachsen | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs waschen |
Where the eye mixes wächst and wäscht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. wächst and wäscht follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: wächst vs wäscht
A purely visual mix-up. wächst ([vɛkst]) and wäscht ([vɛʃt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wächst is recorded at frequency rank #2,751, classified as averb, pronounced [vɛkst]. 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 22529, this pair ranks #1,873,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wächst vs wäscht
Shared letters: chstwä. Private to "wächst": -. Private to "wäscht": -.
"wächst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC · "wäscht" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wächst" and "wäscht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wächst" or "wäscht" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "wächst" and "wäscht" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wächst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wäscht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,873,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wächst" and "wäscht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wäscht vs wash". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,873,072 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.