WahlvswählstWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#561
“Wahl” frequency rank
#31,381
“wählst” frequency rank
31942
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wahl wählst
Definition Entscheidung zwischen zwei oder mehreren Möglichkeiten 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wählen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wahl and wählst apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Wahl
6 ch
wählst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wahl is [vaːl] while wählst is [vɛːlst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wahl is recorded at frequency rank #561, classified as anoun, pronounced [vaːl]. wählst is at rank #31,381, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɛːlst].

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 31942, this pair ranks #1,717,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wahl vs wählst

Shared letters: hlw. Private to "Wahl": a. Private to "wählst": stä.

"Wahl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wählst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wahlawhl · wahhl · wahll · walh · whal · wwahl

Frequency comparison

Wahl#561
wählst#31,381

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wahl" and "wählst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wahl" is a noun and "wählst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wahl" or "wählst"?
"Wahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #561 in our German list, against #31,381 for "wählst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Wahl vs wählst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wahl”; for a verb, it's “wählst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wahl” 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