wahrstenvswährteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,322
“wahrsten” frequency rank
#39,738
“währte” frequency rank
56060
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
wahrsten
6 ch
währte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wahrsten is [ˈvaːɐ̯stn̩] while währte is [ˈvɛːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wahrsten is recorded at frequency rank #16,322, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaːɐ̯stn̩]. 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 56060, this pair ranks #955,134 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wahrsten vs währte

Shared letters: ehrtw. Private to "wahrsten": ans. Private to "währte": ä.

"wahrsten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC  ·  "währte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

wahrsten#16,322
währte#39,738

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wahrsten" and "währte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wahrsten" is an adjective and "währte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wahrsten" or "währte"?
"wahrsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,322 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.

Remembering wahrsten vs währte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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