Which to use
“wählen” and “waren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #984
- “wählen” frequency rank
- #115
- “waren” frequency rank
- 1099
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wählen | waren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich für eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten entscheiden | 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ Aktiv des Verbs sein |
Where the eye mixes wählen and waren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between wählen and waren
A purely visual mix-up. wählen ([ˈvɛːlən]) and waren ([ˈvaːʁən]) 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 1099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wählen is recorded at frequency rank #984, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːlən]. waren is at rank #115, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaːʁən].
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 1099, this pair ranks #2,004,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wählen vs waren
Shared letters: enw. Private to "wählen": hlä. Private to "waren": ar.
"wählen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "waren" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- waren ← awren · waern · warenn · wraen · wwaren
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wählen" and "waren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "wählen" or "waren"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wählen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "waren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,004,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wählen" and "waren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wählen vs weilen". 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 #2,004,901 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.