Which to use
“Walde” is a name and “wälzen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,990
- “Walde” frequency rank
- #35,564
- “wälzen” frequency rank
- 60554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Walde | wälzen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | deutschsprachiger Familienname, Nachname | eine Sache mit Kraft drücken und schieben, indem sie sich dreht |
Where the eye mixes Walde and wälzen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Walde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against wälzen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Walde with wälzen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Walde is [ˈvaldə] while wälzen is [ˈvɛlt͡sn̩]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Walde is recorded at frequency rank #24,990, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈvaldə]. wälzen is at rank #35,564, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛlt͡sn̩].
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 60554, this pair ranks #782,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Walde vs wälzen
Shared letters: elw. Private to "Walde": ad. Private to "wälzen": nzä.
"Walde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "wälzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Walde ← awlde · wadle · waldde · waled · wallde · wlade · wwalde
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Walde" for "wälzen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Walde" vs "wälzen" - which ranks higher?
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 "Walde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wälzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #782,657 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Walde" and "wälzen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wälzen vs Warzen". 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 #782,657 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.