Which to use
“wait” and “went” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,121
- “wait” frequency rank
- #48,632
- “went” frequency rank
- 68753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wait | went |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | warten, abwarten | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs go |
Where the eye mixes wait and went
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. wait (CVVC) and went (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between wait and went
A purely visual mix-up. wait ([weɪt]) and went ([went]) 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 68753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wait is recorded at frequency rank #20,121, classified as averb, pronounced [weɪt]. went is at rank #48,632, tagged as averb, pronounced [went].
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 68753, this pair ranks #497,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of wait vs went
Shared letters: tw. Private to "wait": ai. Private to "went": en.
"wait" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "went" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wait" and "went" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "wait" or "went" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "wait" and "went" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "went" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #497,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wait" and "went" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wants vs went". 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 #497,933 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.