wähltvswartWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“wählt” and “wart” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,697
“wählt” frequency rank
#8,970
“wart” frequency rank
12667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wählt wart
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wählen 2. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs sein

Where the eye mixes wählt and wart

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. wählt runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against wart's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
wählt
4 ch
wart

Why the eye confuses wählt with wart

A purely visual mix-up. wählt ([vɛːlt]) and wart ([vaːɐ̯t]) 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 12667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wählt is recorded at frequency rank #3,697, classified as averb, pronounced [vɛːlt]. wart is at rank #8,970, tagged as averb, pronounced [vaːɐ̯t].

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 12667, this pair ranks #1,962,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wählt vs wart

Shared letters: tw. Private to "wählt": hlä. Private to "wart": ar.

"wählt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "wart" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wart ← awrt · warrt · wartt · watr · wrat · wwart

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wählt" and "wart" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vɛːlt] versus [vaːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wählt" vs "wart" - which ranks higher?
"wählt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,697 in our German list, against #8,970 for "wart". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wählt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wart" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,962,794 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wählt" and "wart" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wart vs waste". 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 #1,962,794 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