Which to use
“wachte” and “warnte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,862
- “wachte” frequency rank
- #13,981
- “warnte” frequency rank
- 44843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wachte | warnte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wachen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs warnen |
Where the eye mixes wachte and warnte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between wachte and warnte
A purely visual mix-up. wachte ([ˈvaxtə]) and warnte ([ˈvaʁntə]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44843, 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]. warnte is at rank #13,981, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaʁntə].
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 44843, this pair ranks #1,372,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wachte vs warnte
Shared letters: aetw. Private to "wachte": ch. Private to "warnte": nr.
"wachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "warnte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wachte" and "warnte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wachte" or "warnte" 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 "wachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "warnte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,372,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wachte" and "warnte" 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 #1,372,918 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.