wagtenvswarntenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,900
“wagten” frequency rank
#47,846
“warnten” frequency rank
81746
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wagten warnten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wagen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs warnen

Where the eye mixes wagten and warnten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. wagten runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against warnten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
wagten
7 ch
warnten

Look-alike desk: wagten vs warnten

A purely visual mix-up. wagten ([ˈvaːktn̩]) and warnten ([ˈvaʁntn̩]) 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 81746, 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]. warnten is at rank #47,846, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaʁntn̩].

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 81746, this pair ranks #169,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of wagten vs warnten

Shared letters: aentw. Private to "wagten": g. Private to "warnten": r.

"wagten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "warnten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wagten ← awgten · wagetn · waggten · wagtenn · wagtne · wagtten · watgen · wgaten
  • warnten ← awrnten · wanrten · warnetn · warnnten · warntenn · warntne · warntten · warrnten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wagten" and "warnten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaːktn̩] versus [ˈvaʁntn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wagten" vs "warnten" - which ranks higher?
"wagten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,900 in our German list, against #47,846 for "warnten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wagten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "warnten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #169,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wagten" and "warnten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "warnten vs Warstein". 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 #169,944 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