währtvswärmtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,876
“währt” frequency rank
#31,892
“wärmt” frequency rank
62768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature währt wärmt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs währen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wärmen

Where the eye mixes währt and wärmt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. währt and wärmt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
währt
5 ch
wärmt

Why the eye confuses währt with wärmt

A purely visual mix-up. währt ([vɛːɐ̯t]) and wärmt ([vɛʁmt]) 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 62768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

währt is recorded at frequency rank #30,876, classified as averb, pronounced [vɛːɐ̯t]. wärmt is at rank #31,892, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɛʁmt].

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 62768, this pair ranks #700,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of währt vs wärmt

Shared letters: rtwä. Private to "währt": h. Private to "wärmt": m.

"währt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "wärmt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "währt" for "wärmt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([vɛːɐ̯t] versus [vɛʁmt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "währt" or "wärmt" show up more?
"währt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,876 in our German list, against #31,892 for "wärmt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "währt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wärmt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #700,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "währt" and "wärmt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "währt vs währte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #700,984 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