Which to use
“wälzen” is a verb and “Welten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,564
- “wälzen” frequency rank
- #6,376
- “Welten” frequency rank
- 41940
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wälzen | Welten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Sache mit Kraft drücken und schieben, indem sie sich dreht | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Welt |
Where the eye mixes wälzen and Welten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wälzen and Welten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses wälzen with Welten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wälzen is [ˈvɛlt͡sn̩] while Welten is [ˈvɛltn̩]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wälzen is recorded at frequency rank #35,564, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛlt͡sn̩]. Welten is at rank #6,376, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛltn̩].
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 41940, this pair ranks #1,464,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wälzen vs Welten
Shared letters: elnw. Private to "wälzen": zä. Private to "Welten": t.
"wälzen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Welten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Welten ← ewlten · weletn · wellten · weltenn · weltne · weltten · wetlen · wleten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wälzen" for "Welten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wälzen" or "Welten"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wälzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Welten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,464,457 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wälzen" and "Welten" 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 #1,464,457 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.