WäldernvsWaldesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,980
“Wäldern” frequency rank
#13,271
“Waldes” frequency rank
24251
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wäldern Waldes
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Wald Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Wald

Where the eye mixes Wäldern and Waldes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Wäldern runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against Waldes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Wäldern
6 ch
Waldes

Why the eye confuses Wäldern with Waldes

A purely visual mix-up. Wäldern ([ˈvɛldɐn]) and Waldes ([ˈvaldəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wäldern is recorded at frequency rank #10,980, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛldɐn]. Waldes is at rank #13,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaldəs].

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 24251, this pair ranks #1,850,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wäldern vs Waldes

Shared letters: delw. Private to "Wäldern": nrä. Private to "Waldes": as.

"Wäldern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Waldes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Waldes ← awldes · wadles · walddes · waldess · waldse · waleds · walldes · wlades

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Wäldern" for "Waldes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛldɐn] versus [ˈvaldəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Wäldern" or "Waldes"?
"Wäldern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,980 in our German list, against #13,271 for "Waldes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wäldern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Waldes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,850,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wäldern" and "Waldes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Waldes vs Waldweg". 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 #1,850,305 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