Which to use
“wacht” and “währt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,011
- “wacht” frequency rank
- #30,876
- “währt” frequency rank
- 40887
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wacht | währt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wachen | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs währen |
Where the eye mixes wacht and währt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. wacht and währt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses wacht with währt
A purely visual mix-up. wacht ([vaxt]) and währt ([vɛːɐ̯t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wacht is recorded at frequency rank #10,011, classified as averb, pronounced [vaxt]. währt is at rank #30,876, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɛːɐ̯t].
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 40887, this pair ranks #1,495,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wacht vs währt
Shared letters: htw. Private to "wacht": ac. Private to "währt": rä.
"wacht" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "währt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wacht ← awcht · waccht · wachht · wachtt · wahct · wcaht · wwacht
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wacht" for "währt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wacht" or "währt"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wacht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "währt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,495,480 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wacht" and "währt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "währt vs währte". 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 #1,495,480 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.