Which to use
“wähle” is a verb and “wave” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,853
- “wähle” frequency rank
- #20,462
- “wave” frequency rank
- 28315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wähle | wave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wählen | Bewegung der Wasseroberfläche oder einer anderen Flüssigkeit: Welle |
Where the eye mixes wähle and wave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: wähle vs wave
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wähle is [ˈvɛːlə] while wave is [weɪv]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28315, 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]. wave is at rank #20,462, tagged as anoun, pronounced [weɪv].
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 28315, this pair ranks #1,786,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wähle vs wave
Shared letters: ew. Private to "wähle": hlä. Private to "wave": av.
"wähle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "wave" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- wave ← awve · waev · wavve · wvae · wwave
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wähle" for "wave" ever safe?
Frequency check: "wähle" vs "wave" - which ranks higher?
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 "wähle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,786,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wähle" and "wave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waste vs wave". 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 #1,786,965 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.