Which to use
“wählen” and “wühlen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #984
- “wählen” frequency rank
- #30,397
- “wühlen” frequency rank
- 31381
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wählen | wühlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich für eine von mehreren Möglichkeiten entscheiden | meist mit technischen Hilfsmitteln im Erdboden graben |
Where the eye mixes wählen and wühlen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. wählen and wühlen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: wählen vs wühlen
A purely visual mix-up. wählen ([ˈvɛːlən]) and wühlen ([ˈvyːlən]) 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 a single letter - ä in “wählen” becomes ü in “wühlen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wählen is recorded at frequency rank #984, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːlən]. wühlen is at rank #30,397, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvyːlən].
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 31381, this pair ranks #1,729,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wählen vs wühlen
Shared letters: ehlnw. Private to "wählen": ä. Private to "wühlen": ü.
"wählen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wühlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wählen" and "wühlen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "wählen" or "wühlen" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "wühlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,729,283 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wählen" and "wühlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weilen vs wühlen". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,729,283 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.