WehrvswehteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Wehr is a noun, wehte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Wehr” is a noun and “wehte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,974
“Wehr” frequency rank
#45,686
“wehte” frequency rank
56660
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wehr wehte
Definition Anlage zur Stauung von Wasser, die quer durch ein fließendes Gewässer verläuft 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wehen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wehr and wehte apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Wehr
5 ch
wehte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wehr is [veːɐ̯] while wehte is [ˈveːtə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56660, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wehr is recorded at frequency rank #10,974, classified as anoun, pronounced [veːɐ̯]. wehte is at rank #45,686, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːtə].

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 56660, this pair ranks #931,662 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Wehr vs wehte

Shared letters: ehw. Private to "Wehr": r. Private to "wehte": t.

"Wehr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wehte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wehrewhr · wehhr · wehrr · werh · wher · wwehr
  • wehteewhte · wehet · wehhte · wehtte · wethe · whete · wwehte

Frequency comparison

Wehr#10,974
wehte#45,686

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wehr" and "wehte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wehr" is a noun and "wehte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wehr" or "wehte"?
"Wehr" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,974 in our German list, against #45,686 for "wehte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wehr vs wehte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wehr”; for a verb, it's “wehte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wehr” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list