Which to use
“wachte” and “wählte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,862
- “wachte” frequency rank
- #8,490
- “wählte” frequency rank
- 39352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wachte | wählte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wachen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wählen |
Where the eye mixes wachte and wählte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wachte and wählte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: wachte vs wählte
A purely visual mix-up. wachte ([ˈvaxtə]) and wählte ([ˈvɛːltə]) 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 39352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wachte is recorded at frequency rank #30,862, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaxtə]. wählte is at rank #8,490, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːltə].
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 39352, this pair ranks #1,539,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wachte vs wählte
Shared letters: ehtw. Private to "wachte": ac. Private to "wählte": lä.
"wachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "wählte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- wachte ← awchte · wacchte · wachet · wachhte · wachtte · wacthe · wahcte · wcahte
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wachte" and "wählte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "wachte" vs "wählte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wachte" and "wählte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wählte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,539,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wachte" and "wählte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wachte vs waste". 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 #1,539,125 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.