Which to use
“wecken” is a verb and “wessen” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,424
- “wecken” frequency rank
- #12,833
- “wessen” frequency rank
- 20257
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wecken | wessen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden aus dem Schlaf holen, wach machen | Genitiv von wer |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wecken and wessen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
wecken and wessen form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wecken is recorded at frequency rank #7,424, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛkn̩]. wessen is at rank #12,833, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈvɛsn̩].
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 20257, this pair ranks #1,899,645 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "wecken" and "wessen" be used interchangeably?
Remembering wecken vs wessen
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “wecken”; for a pronoun, it's “wessen”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wecken” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable