Which to use
“währen” and “wehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,465
- “währen” frequency rank
- #13,067
- “wehen” frequency rank
- 47532
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | währen | wehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich über eine Zeitspanne erstrecken | eine Luftströmung verursachen |
Where the eye mixes währen and wehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. währen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against wehen's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses währen with wehen
A purely visual mix-up. währen ([ˈvɛːʁən]) and wehen ([ˈveːən]) 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 47532, 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]. wehen is at rank #13,067, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːən].
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 47532, this pair ranks #1,280,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of währen vs wehen
Shared letters: ehnw. Private to "währen": rä. Private to "wehen": -.
"währen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wehen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wehen ← ewhen · weehn · wehenn · wehhen · wehne · wheen · wwehen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "währen" and "wehen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "währen" or "wehen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "währen" and "wehen" 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 "wehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,280,998 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "währen" and "wehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "währen vs Warzen". 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 #1,280,998 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.