waschvsWunschWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wasch is a verb, Wunsch is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wasch” is a verb and “Wunsch” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,959
“wasch” frequency rank
#1,579
“Wunsch” frequency rank
24538
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wasch Wunsch
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs waschen das Ersehnen von etwas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wasch and Wunsch apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
wasch
6 ch
Wunsch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wasch is [vaʃ] while Wunsch is [vʊnʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wasch is recorded at frequency rank #22,959, classified as averb, pronounced [vaʃ]. Wunsch is at rank #1,579, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vʊnʃ].

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 24538, this pair ranks #1,846,157 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wasch vs Wunsch

Shared letters: chsw. Private to "wasch": a. Private to "Wunsch": nu.

"wasch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Wunsch" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • waschawsch · wascch · waschh · washc · wassch · wsach · wwasch
  • Wunschuwnsch · wnusch · wuncsh · wunnsch · wunscch · wunschh · wunshc · wunssch

Frequency comparison

wasch#22,959
Wunsch#1,579

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wasch" and "Wunsch" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wasch" is a verb and "Wunsch" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wasch" or "Wunsch"?
"Wunsch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,579 in our German list, against #22,959 for "wasch". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wasch vs Wunsch

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “wasch”; for a noun, it's “Wunsch”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wasch” 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