währenvswährteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,465
“währen” frequency rank
#39,738
“währte” frequency rank
74203
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature währen währte
Definition sich über eine Zeitspanne erstrecken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs währen

Where the eye mixes währen and währte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. währen (CVCCVC) and währte (CVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
währen
6 ch
währte

Visual trap between währen and währte

A purely visual mix-up. währen ([ˈvɛːʁən]) and währte ([ˈvɛːɐ̯tə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

währen is recorded at frequency rank #34,465, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːʁən]. währte is at rank #39,738, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːɐ̯tə].

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 74203, this pair ranks #339,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of währen vs währte

Shared letters: ehrwä. Private to "währen": n. Private to "währte": t.

"währen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "währte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "währen" and "währte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛːʁən] versus [ˈvɛːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "währen" vs "währte" - which ranks higher?
"währen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,465 in our German list, against #39,738 for "währte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "währen" and "währte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "währen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "währte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #339,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "währen" and "währte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "währte vs waste". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #339,694 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