Which to use
“walten” and “wollten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,786
- “walten” frequency rank
- #1,048
- “wollten” frequency rank
- 21834
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | walten | wollten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine bestimmende oder herrschende Funktion erfüllen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wollen |
Where the eye mixes walten and wollten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. walten runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against wollten's 7 (CVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between walten and wollten
A purely visual mix-up. walten ([ˈvaltn̩]) and wollten ([ˈvɔltn̩]) 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 21834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
walten is recorded at frequency rank #20,786, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaltn̩]. wollten is at rank #1,048, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɔltn̩].
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 21834, this pair ranks #1,881,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of walten vs wollten
Shared letters: elntw. Private to "walten": a. Private to "wollten": o.
"walten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wollten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "walten" and "wollten" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "walten" vs "wollten" - which ranks higher?
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 "walten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wollten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,881,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "walten" and "wollten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "walten 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 #1,881,597 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.