Which to use
“wähle” and “währte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,853
- “wähle” frequency rank
- #39,738
- “währte” frequency rank
- 47591
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wähle | währte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wählen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs währen |
Where the eye mixes wähle and währte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wähle runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against währte's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses wähle with währte
A purely visual mix-up. wähle ([ˈvɛːlə]) and währte ([ˈvɛːɐ̯tə]) 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 47591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wähle is recorded at frequency rank #7,853, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːlə]. währte is at rank #39,738, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːɐ̯tə].
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 47591, this pair ranks #1,278,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wähle vs währte
Shared letters: ehwä. Private to "wähle": l. Private to "währte": rt.
"wähle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "währte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wähle" and "währte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "wähle" vs "währte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "wähle" and "währte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wähle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "währte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,278,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wähle" and "währte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "währte vs waste". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,278,972 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.