Which to use
“wehte” and “were” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,686
- “wehte” frequency rank
- #13,071
- “were” frequency rank
- 58757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wehte | were |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wehen | 2. Person Singular simple past des Verbs be |
Where the eye mixes wehte and were
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses wehte with were
A purely visual mix-up. wehte ([ˈveːtə]) 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 58757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wehte is recorded at frequency rank #45,686, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːtə]. 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 58757, this pair ranks #850,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of wehte vs were
Shared letters: ew. Private to "wehte": ht. Private to "were": r.
"wehte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "were" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wehte" for "were" ever safe?
Which is more common, "wehte" or "were"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "wehte" 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 #850,466 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wehte" and "were" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waste vs wehte". 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 #850,466 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.