Which to use
“wehren” and “wehtun” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,444
- “wehren” frequency rank
- #28,018
- “wehtun” frequency rank
- 33462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wehren | wehtun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich etwas/jemandem entgegensetzen; gegen etwas Widerstand leisten | Schmerzen zufügen |
Where the eye mixes wehren and wehtun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wehren and wehtun follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses wehren with wehtun
A purely visual mix-up. wehren ([ˈveːʁən]) and wehtun ([ˈveːˌtuːn]) 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 33462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wehren is recorded at frequency rank #5,444, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːʁən]. wehtun is at rank #28,018, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːˌtuːn].
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 33462, this pair ranks #1,685,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wehren vs wehtun
Shared letters: ehnw. Private to "wehren": r. Private to "wehtun": tu.
"wehren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wehtun" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wehren" and "wehtun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wehren" or "wehtun" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wehtun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,685,486 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wehren" and "wehtun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wehte vs wehtun". 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 #1,685,486 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.