WalzevswelkeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Walze is a noun, welke is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Walze” is a noun and “welke” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,133
“Walze” frequency rank
#47,128
“welke” frequency rank
86261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Walze welke
Definition runder und sehr breiter, sehr schwerer Maschinenteil der Dampfwalze oder Straßenwalze, der vorn angenietet wird und dessen Einsatz im Straßenbau vorkommt, um Kies und andere kleine Steine zu zerdrücken und so die Oberfläche zu glätten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs welk

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Walze and welke apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Walze
5 ch
welke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Walze is [ˈvalt͡sə] while welke is [ˈvɛlkə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Walze is recorded at frequency rank #39,133, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvalt͡sə]. welke is at rank #47,128, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɛlkə].

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 86261, this pair ranks #96,309 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Walze vs welke

Shared letters: elw. Private to "Walze": az. Private to "welke": k.

"Walze" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "welke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Walzeawlze · walez · wallze · walzze · wazle · wlaze · wwalze
  • welkeewlke · wekle · welek · welkke · wellke · wleke · wwelke

Frequency comparison

Walze#39,133
welke#47,128

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Walze" and "welke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Walze" is a noun and "welke" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Walze" or "welke"?
"Walze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,133 in our German list, against #47,128 for "welke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Walze vs welke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Walze”; for an adjective, it's “welke”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Walze” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list