Which to use
“wau” is an intj and “what” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,137
- “wau” frequency rank
- #4,752
- “what” frequency rank
- 43889
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wau | what |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Laut, der beim Bellen eines Hundes entsteht | was? |
Where the eye mixes wau and what
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. wau runs 3 letters (CVV) against what's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: wau vs what
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wau is [vaʊ̯] while what is [wɒt]. 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 (intj vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wau is recorded at frequency rank #39,137, classified as anintj, pronounced [vaʊ̯]. what is at rank #4,752, tagged as apron, pronounced [wɒt].
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 43889, this pair ranks #1,403,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wau vs what
Shared letters: aw. Private to "wau": u. Private to "what": ht.
"wau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "what" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- what ← hwat · waht · whatt · whhat · whta · wwhat
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wau" for "what" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "wau" or "what" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "what" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,403,737 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wau" and "what" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wau vs wig". 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 #1,403,737 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.