Which to use
“währt” is a verb and “what” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,876
- “währt” frequency rank
- #4,752
- “what” frequency rank
- 35628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | währt | what |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs währen | was? |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set währt and what apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: währt is [vɛːɐ̯t] while what is [wɒt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35628, 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]. what is at rank #4,752, tagged as apron, pronounced [wɒt].
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 35628, this pair ranks #1,635,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of währt vs what
Shared letters: htw. Private to "währt": rä. Private to "what": a.
"währt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "what" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- what ← hwat · waht · whatt · whhat · whta · wwhat
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "währt" and "what" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "währt" or "what"?
Remembering währt vs what
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “währt”; for a pronoun, it's “what”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “währt” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable