Which to use
“wagten” and “wanted” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,900
- “wagten” frequency rank
- #27,131
- “wanted” frequency rank
- 61031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wagten | wanted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wagen | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs want |
Letter map: wagten vs wanted
Shared letters muted; letters that set wagten and wanted apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. wagten and wanted follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Pair insight - wagten / wanted
wagten and wanted are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wagten is recorded at frequency rank #33,900, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaːktn̩]. wanted is at rank #27,131, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
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 61031, this pair ranks #764,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wagten vs wanted
Shared letters: aentw. Private to "wagten": g. Private to "wanted": d.
"wagten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wanted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wagten" for "wanted" ever safe?
Frequency check: "wagten" vs "wanted" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "wagten" and "wanted". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "wagten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wanted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #764,851 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wagten" and "wanted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wagten 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 #764,851 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.