WeichevsweilteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,485
“Weiche” frequency rank
#29,422
“weilte” frequency rank
38907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weiche weilte
Definition weiche Beschaffenheit 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs weilen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Weiche and weilte apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Weiche
6 ch
weilte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Weiche is [ˈvaɪ̯çə] while weilte is [ˈvaɪ̯ltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38907, 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]. weilte is at rank #29,422, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ltə].

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 38907, this pair ranks #1,551,423 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weiche vs weilte

Shared letters: eiw. Private to "Weiche": ch. Private to "weilte": lt.

"Weiche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "weilte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weicheewiche · wecihe · weicche · weiceh · weichhe · weihce · wieche · wweiche
  • weilteewilte · weilet · weillte · weiltte · weitle · welite · wielte · wweilte

Frequency comparison

Weiche#9,485
weilte#29,422

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Weiche" and "weilte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Weiche" is a noun and "weilte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Weiche" or "weilte"?
"Weiche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,485 in our German list, against #29,422 for "weilte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Weiche vs weilte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Weiche”; for a verb, it's “weilte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Weiche” 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