weihenvswertenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#36,119
“weihen” frequency rank
#4,846
“werten” frequency rank
40965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weihen werten
Definition eine Person durch besondere religiöse Handlungen in ein Amt einführen den ideellen Wert einer Sache beurteilen

Where the eye mixes weihen and werten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. weihen (CVVCVC) and werten (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
weihen
6 ch
werten

Look-alike desk: weihen vs werten

A purely visual mix-up. weihen ([ˈvaɪ̯ən]) and werten ([ˈveːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weihen is recorded at frequency rank #36,119, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯ən]. werten is at rank #4,846, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯tn̩].

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 40965, this pair ranks #1,493,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weihen vs werten

Shared letters: enw. Private to "weihen": hi. Private to "werten": rt.

"weihen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "werten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weihen ← ewihen · wehien · weiehn · weihenn · weihhen · weihne · wiehen · wweihen
  • werten ← ewrten · weretn · werrten · wertenn · wertne · wertten · wetren · wreten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weihen" and "werten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯ən] versus [ˈveːɐ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "weihen" or "werten"?
"werten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,846 in our German list, against #36,119 for "weihen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "weihen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "werten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,493,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "weihen" and "werten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weihen vs weilen". 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 #1,493,206 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