WeichevsWeiherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,485
“Weiche” frequency rank
#20,790
“Weiher” frequency rank
30275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weiche Weiher
Definition weiche Beschaffenheit kleiner, flacher See, stehendes Gewässer, Teich, Fischgewässer

Where the eye mixes Weiche and Weiher

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Weiche
6 ch
Weiher

Look-alike desk: Weiche vs Weiher

A purely visual mix-up. Weiche ([ˈvaɪ̯çə]) and Weiher ([ˈvaɪ̯ɐ]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weiche is recorded at frequency rank #9,485, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çə]. Weiher is at rank #20,790, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ɐ].

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 30275, this pair ranks #1,751,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weiche vs Weiher

Shared letters: ehiw. Private to "Weiche": c. Private to "Weiher": r.

"Weiche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "Weiher" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weicheewiche · wecihe · weicche · weiceh · weichhe · weihce · wieche · wweiche
  • Weiherewiher · wehier · weiehr · weiherr · weihher · weihre · wieher · wweiher

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weiche" for "Weiher" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯çə] versus [ˈvaɪ̯ɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Weiche" or "Weiher"?
"Weiche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,485 in our German list, against #20,790 for "Weiher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weiche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weiher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,751,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weiche" and "Weiher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weiher vs writer". 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 #1,751,053 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