WasservsWelserWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Wasser” and “Welser” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#415
“Wasser” frequency rank
#42,947
“Welser” frequency rank
43362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wasser Welser
Definition die chemische Verbindung (Diwasserstoffoxid), der Stoff H₂O in flüssigem Aggregatzustand, die aus Wasserstoff und Sauerstoff zusammengesetzt ist Angehöriger einer Patrizierfamilie von Großkaufleuten, die aus Augsburg und Nürnberg stammt

Where the eye mixes Wasser and Welser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Wasser
6 ch
Welser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Wasser ([ˈvasɐ]) and Welser ([ˈvɛlzɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wasser is recorded at frequency rank #415, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvasɐ]. Welser is at rank #42,947, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛlzɐ].

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 43362, this pair ranks #1,420,490 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Wasser vs Welser

Shared letters: ersw. Private to "Wasser": a. Private to "Welser": l.

"Wasser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Welser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wasserawsser · waser · wasesr · wasserr · wassre · waßer · wsaser · wwasser
  • Welserewlser · welesr · wellser · welserr · welsre · welsser · wesler · wleser

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wasser" and "Welser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvasɐ] versus [ˈvɛlzɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Wasser" or "Welser"?
"Wasser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #415 in our German list, against #42,947 for "Welser". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "Wasser" and "Welser". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wasser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Welser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,420,490 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wasser" and "Welser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weaver vs Welser". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list