Which to use
“wehre” and “were” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,548
- “wehre” frequency rank
- #13,071
- “were” frequency rank
- 48619
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wehre | were |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wehren | 2. Person Singular simple past des Verbs be |
Where the eye mixes wehre and were
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses wehre with were
A purely visual mix-up. wehre ([ˈveːʁə]) and were ([wɜː]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wehre is recorded at frequency rank #35,548, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːʁə]. were is at rank #13,071, tagged as averb, pronounced [wɜː].
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 48619, this pair ranks #1,241,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wehre vs were
Shared letters: erw. Private to "wehre": h. Private to "were": -.
"wehre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "were" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wehre" for "were" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wehre" or "were"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "wehre" and "were" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "wehre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "were" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,241,865 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wehre" and "were" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wehre 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 #1,241,865 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.