Which to use
“waren” and “wehren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #115
- “waren” frequency rank
- #5,444
- “wehren” frequency rank
- 5559
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | waren | wehren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Präteritum Indikativ Aktiv des Verbs sein | sich etwas/jemandem entgegensetzen; gegen etwas Widerstand leisten |
Where the eye mixes waren and wehren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: waren vs wehren
A purely visual mix-up. waren ([ˈvaːʁən]) and wehren ([ˈveːʁən]) 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 5559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
waren is recorded at frequency rank #115, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaːʁən]. wehren is at rank #5,444, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːʁən].
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 5559, this pair ranks #1,994,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of waren vs wehren
Shared letters: enrw. Private to "waren": a. Private to "wehren": h.
"waren" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "wehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "waren" and "wehren" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "waren" or "wehren" show up more?
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 "waren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,994,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "waren" and "wehren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wehren vs weilen". 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 #1,994,405 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.