weichesvswelcheWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: weiches is a adjective, welche is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“weiches” is an adjective and “welche” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,477
“weiches” frequency rank
#262
“welche” frequency rank
28739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weiches welche
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs weich ein Interrogativpronomen (Fragepronomen)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set weiches and welche apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
weiches
6 ch
welche

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weiches is [ˈvaɪ̯çəs] while welche is [ˈvɛlçə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weiches is recorded at frequency rank #28,477, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯çəs]. welche is at rank #262, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈvɛlçə].

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 28739, this pair ranks #1,779,463 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of weiches vs welche

Shared letters: cehw. Private to "weiches": is. Private to "welche": l.

"weiches" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "welche" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weichesewiches · wecihes · weicches · weicehs · weichess · weichhes · weichse · weihces
  • welcheewlche · weclhe · welcche · welceh · welchhe · welhce · wellche · wleche

Frequency comparison

weiches#28,477
welche#262

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weiches" and "welche" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weiches" is an adjective and "welche" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weiches" or "welche"?
"welche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #262 in our German list, against #28,477 for "weiches". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering weiches vs welche

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “weiches”; for a pronoun, it's “welche”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “weiches” 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