WählervswährenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,478
“Wähler” frequency rank
#34,465
“währen” frequency rank
36943
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wähler währen
Definition Person, die aktiv an einer Wahl teilnimmt/teilnahm sich über eine Zeitspanne erstrecken

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wähler and währen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Wähler
6 ch
währen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wähler is [ˈvɛːlɐ] while währen is [ˈvɛːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36943, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wähler is recorded at frequency rank #2,478, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛːlɐ]. währen is at rank #34,465, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːʁən].

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 36943, this pair ranks #1,602,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wähler vs währen

Shared letters: ehrwä. Private to "Wähler": l. Private to "währen": n.

"Wähler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "währen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

Wähler#2,478
währen#34,465

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wähler" and "währen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wähler" is a noun and "währen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wähler" or "währen"?
"Wähler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,478 in our German list, against #34,465 for "währen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Wähler vs währen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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