wähltevswehteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,490
“wählte” frequency rank
#45,686
“wehte” frequency rank
54176
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wählte wehte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wählen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wehen

Where the eye mixes wählte and wehte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wählte runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against wehte's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
wählte
5 ch
wehte

Look-alike desk: wählte vs wehte

A purely visual mix-up. wählte ([ˈvɛːltə]) and wehte ([ˈveːtə]) 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 54176, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wählte is recorded at frequency rank #8,490, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːltə]. wehte is at rank #45,686, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːtə].

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 54176, this pair ranks #1,029,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wählte vs wehte

Shared letters: ehtw. Private to "wählte": lä. Private to "wehte": -.

"wählte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "wehte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wehte ← ewhte · wehet · wehhte · wehtte · wethe · whete · wwehte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wählte" and "wehte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛːltə] versus [ˈveːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wählte" vs "wehte" - which ranks higher?
"wählte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,490 in our German list, against #45,686 for "wehte". 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 "wählte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wehte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,029,175 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wählte" and "wehte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waste vs wehte". 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 #1,029,175 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