wagtevsWeiteConfusable pair

Quick tell: wagte is a verb, Weite is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wagte” is a verb and “Weite” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,464
“wagte” frequency rank
#3,783
“Weite” frequency rank
21247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wagte Weite
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wagen räumliche Ausdehnung

Where the eye mixes wagte and Weite

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
wagte
5 ch
Weite

Visual trap between wagte and Weite

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wagte is [ˈvaːktə] while Weite is [ˈvaɪ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wagte is recorded at frequency rank #17,464, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaːktə]. Weite is at rank #3,783, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯tə].

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 21247, this pair ranks #1,888,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wagte vs Weite

Shared letters: etw. Private to "wagte": ag. Private to "Weite": i.

"wagte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Weite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wagteawgte · waget · waggte · wagtte · watge · wgate · wwagte
  • Weiteewite · weiet · weitte · wetie · wiete · wweite

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wagte" and "Weite" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wagte" is a verb and "Weite" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wagte" or "Weite"?
"Weite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,783 in our German list, against #17,464 for "wagte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wagte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,888,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wagte" and "Weite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wagte 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 #1,888,549 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list