Which to use
“wechselte” and “wechselten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,252
- “wechselte” frequency rank
- #17,183
- “wechselten” frequency rank
- 24435
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wechselte | wechselten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wechseln | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wechseln |
Where the eye mixes wechselte and wechselten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. wechselte runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCCV) against wechselten's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between wechselte and wechselten
A purely visual mix-up. wechselte ([ˈvɛksl̩tə]) and wechselten ([ˈvɛksl̩tn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “wechselte” sits inside “wechselten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wechselte is recorded at frequency rank #7,252, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛksl̩tə]. wechselten is at rank #17,183, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛksl̩tn̩].
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 24435, this pair ranks #1,847,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wechselte vs wechselten
Shared letters: cehlstw. Private to "wechselte": -. Private to "wechselten": n.
"wechselte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCCV · "wechselten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- wechselte ← ewchselte · wcehselte · wecchselte · wecheslte · wechhselte · wechselet · wechsellte · wechseltte
- wechselten ← ewchselten · wcehselten · wecchselten · wecheslten · wechhselten · wechseletn · wechsellten · wechseltenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wechselte" for "wechselten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wechselte" or "wechselten"?
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 "wechselte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wechselten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,847,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wechselte" and "wechselten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wechselnd vs wechselte". 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 #1,847,690 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.