WählervswalletTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,478
“Wähler” frequency rank
#33,901
“wallet” frequency rank
36379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wähler wallet
Definition Person, die aktiv an einer Wahl teilnimmt/teilnahm 2. Person Plural Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wallen

Where the eye mixes Wähler and wallet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Wähler and wallet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
Wähler
6 ch
wallet

Why the eye confuses Wähler with wallet

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wähler is [ˈvɛːlɐ] while wallet is [ˈvalət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 36379, 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]. wallet is at rank #33,901, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvalət].

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 36379, this pair ranks #1,617,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wähler vs wallet

Shared letters: elw. Private to "Wähler": hrä. Private to "wallet": at.

"Wähler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "wallet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wallet ← awllet · walelt · walet · wallett · wallte · wlalet · wwallet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wähler" and "wallet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wähler" is a noun and "wallet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Wähler" vs "wallet" - which ranks higher?
"Wähler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,478 in our German list, against #33,901 for "wallet". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "Wähler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wallet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,617,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wähler" and "wallet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wallet vs Wallner". 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 #1,617,099 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list