wähltenvswahrstenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wählten is a verb, wahrsten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wählten” is a verb and “wahrsten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,468
“wählten” frequency rank
#16,322
“wahrsten” frequency rank
30790
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wählten wahrsten
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wählen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Superlativs des Adjektivs wahr

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wählten and wahrsten apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
wählten
8 ch
wahrsten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wählten is [ˈvɛːltn̩] while wahrsten is [ˈvaːɐ̯stn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wählten is recorded at frequency rank #14,468, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːltn̩]. wahrsten is at rank #16,322, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaːɐ̯stn̩].

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 30790, this pair ranks #1,741,017 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wählten vs wahrsten

Shared letters: ehntw. Private to "wählten": . Private to "wahrsten": ars.

"wählten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "wahrsten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wahrstenawhrsten · wahhrsten · wahrrsten · wahrsetn · wahrssten · wahrstenn · wahrstne · wahrstten

Frequency comparison

wählten#14,468
wahrsten#16,322

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wählten" and "wahrsten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wählten" is a verb and "wahrsten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wählten" or "wahrsten"?
"wählten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,468 in our German list, against #16,322 for "wahrsten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wählten vs wahrsten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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