weichemvswelchemWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: weichem is a adjective, welchem is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“weichem” is an adjective and “welchem” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,573
“weichem” frequency rank
#1,795
“welchem” frequency rank
43368
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weichem welchem
Definition Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs weich Dativ Singular des Pronomens welcher

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set weichem and welchem apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
weichem
7 ch
welchem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weichem is [ˈvaɪ̯çm̩] while welchem is [ˈvɛlçəm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “weichem” becomes l in “welchem”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weichem is recorded at frequency rank #41,573, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çm̩]. welchem is at rank #1,795, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈvɛlçəm].

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 43368, this pair ranks #1,420,311 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weichem vs welchem

Shared letters: cehmw. Private to "weichem": i. Private to "welchem": l.

"weichem" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "welchem" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weichemewichem · wecihem · weicchem · weicehm · weichemm · weichhem · weichme · weihcem
  • welchemewlchem · weclhem · welcchem · welcehm · welchemm · welchhem · welchme · welhcem

Frequency comparison

weichem#41,573
welchem#1,795

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weichem" and "welchem" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weichem" is an adjective and "welchem" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weichem" or "welchem"?
"welchem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,795 in our German list, against #41,573 for "weichem". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering weichem vs welchem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “weichem”; for an unknown, it's “welchem”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “weichem” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list