wahrevsWehrWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,274
“wahre” frequency rank
#10,974
“Wehr” frequency rank
13248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wahre Wehr
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs wahr Anlage zur Stauung von Wasser, die quer durch ein fließendes Gewässer verläuft

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
wahre
4 ch
Wehr

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

wahre and Wehr form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13248, 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]. Wehr is at rank #10,974, tagged as anoun, pronounced [veːɐ̯].

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 13248, this pair ranks #1,959,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

wahre#2,274
Wehr#10,974

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wahre" and "Wehr" be used interchangeably?
No, "wahre" and "Wehr" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering wahre vs Wehr

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 “Wehr”.
  • 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