weichenvsweichtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,396
“weichen” frequency rank
#14,994
“weicht” frequency rank
19390
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weichen weicht
Definition sich entfernen, weggehen/Platz machen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs weichen

Where the eye mixes weichen and weicht

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

7 ch
weichen
6 ch
weicht

Visual trap between weichen and weicht

A purely visual mix-up. weichen ([ˈvaɪ̯çn̩]) and weicht ([vaɪ̯çt]) 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 19390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weichen is recorded at frequency rank #4,396, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çn̩]. weicht is at rank #14,994, tagged as averb, pronounced [vaɪ̯çt].

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 19390, this pair ranks #1,908,800 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of weichen vs weicht

Shared letters: cehiw. Private to "weichen": n. Private to "weicht": t.

"weichen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "weicht" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weichenewichen · wecihen · weicchen · weicehn · weichenn · weichhen · weichne · weihcen
  • weichtewicht · weciht · weiccht · weichht · weichtt · weicth · weihct · wiecht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "weichen" and "weicht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯çn̩] versus [vaɪ̯çt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "weichen" or "weicht"?
"weichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,396 in our German list, against #14,994 for "weicht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "weichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "weicht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,908,800 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weichen" and "weicht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weicht vs wichst". 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 #1,908,800 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