wachtevswehteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“wachte” and “wehte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,862
“wachte” frequency rank
#45,686
“wehte” frequency rank
76548
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wachte wehte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wachen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wehen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wachte and wehte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wachte
5 ch
wehte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. wachte ([ˈvaxtə]) and wehte ([ˈveːtə]) 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 76548, 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]. wehte is at rank #45,686, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːtə].

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 76548, this pair ranks #281,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wachte vs wehte

Shared letters: ehtw. Private to "wachte": ac. Private to "wehte": -.

"wachte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "wehte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wachteawchte · wacchte · wachet · wachhte · wachtte · wacthe · wahcte · wcahte
  • wehteewhte · wehet · wehhte · wehtte · wethe · whete · wwehte

Frequency comparison

wachte#30,862
wehte#45,686

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wachte" and "wehte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaxtə] versus [ˈveːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wachte" or "wehte"?
"wachte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,862 in our German list, against #45,686 for "wehte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wachte vs wehte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wachte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list