wecktevswinkteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,194
“weckte” frequency rank
#37,900
“winkte” frequency rank
62094
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weckte winkte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wecken 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs winken

Where the eye mixes weckte and winkte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. weckte and winkte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
weckte
6 ch
winkte

Why the eye confuses weckte with winkte

A purely visual mix-up. weckte ([ˈvɛktə]) and winkte ([ˈvɪŋktə]) 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 62094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weckte is recorded at frequency rank #24,194, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛktə]. winkte is at rank #37,900, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪŋktə].

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 62094, this pair ranks #725,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weckte vs winkte

Shared letters: ektw. Private to "weckte": c. Private to "winkte": in.

"weckte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "winkte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weckte ← ewckte · wcekte · wecckte · wecket · weckkte · wecktte · wectke · wekcte
  • winkte ← iwnkte · wiknte · winket · winkkte · winktte · winnkte · wintke · wnikte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weckte" and "winkte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛktə] versus [ˈvɪŋktə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "weckte" or "winkte" show up more?
"weckte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,194 in our German list, against #37,900 for "winkte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "weckte" and "winkte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "weckte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "winkte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #725,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weckte" and "winkte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weckte vs welke". 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 #725,369 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list