Which to use
“währte” and “warten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,738
- “währte” frequency rank
- #848
- “warten” frequency rank
- 40586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | währte | warten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs währen | Zeit verstreichen lassen beziehungsweise untätig sein, bis ein bestimmter Zustand eintrifft |
Where the eye mixes währte and warten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. währte (CVCCCV) and warten (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses währte with warten
A purely visual mix-up. währte ([ˈvɛːɐ̯tə]) and warten ([ˈvaʁtn̩]) 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 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
währte is recorded at frequency rank #39,738, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːɐ̯tə]. warten is at rank #848, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaʁtn̩].
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 40586, this pair ranks #1,504,210 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of währte vs warten
Shared letters: ertw. Private to "währte": hä. Private to "warten": an.
"währte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "warten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- warten ← awrten · waretn · warrten · wartenn · wartne · wartten · watren · wraten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "währte" and "warten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "währte" or "warten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "währte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "warten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,504,210 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "währte" and "warten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "währte vs waste". 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 #1,504,210 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.