wahrevsWalzeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wahre is a adjective, Walze is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wahre” is an adjective and “Walze” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,274
“wahre” frequency rank
#39,133
“Walze” frequency rank
41407
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wahre Walze
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wahr runder und sehr breiter, sehr schwerer Maschinenteil der Dampfwalze oder Straßenwalze, der vorn angenietet wird und dessen Einsatz im Straßenbau vorkommt, um Kies und andere kleine Steine zu zerdrücken und so die Oberfläche zu glätten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wahre and Walze apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
wahre
5 ch
Walze

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wahre is [ˈvaːʁə] while Walze is [ˈvalt͡sə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wahre is recorded at frequency rank #2,274, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaːʁə]. Walze is at rank #39,133, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvalt͡sə].

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 41407, this pair ranks #1,480,386 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wahre vs Walze

Shared letters: aew. Private to "wahre": hr. Private to "Walze": lz.

"wahre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Walze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wahreawhre · waher · wahhre · wahrre · warhe · whare · wwahre
  • Walzeawlze · walez · wallze · walzze · wazle · wlaze · wwalze

Frequency comparison

wahre#2,274
Walze#39,133

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wahre" and "Walze" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wahre" is an adjective and "Walze" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wahre" or "Walze"?
"wahre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,274 in our German list, against #39,133 for "Walze". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wahre vs Walze

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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