weisenvsWelserWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,935
“weisen” frequency rank
#42,947
“Welser” frequency rank
45882
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature weisen Welser
Definition auf etwas zeigen Angehöriger einer Patrizierfamilie von Großkaufleuten, die aus Augsburg und Nürnberg stammt

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
weisen
6 ch
Welser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: weisen is [ˈvaɪ̯zn̩] while Welser is [ˈvɛlzɐ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

weisen is recorded at frequency rank #2,935, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]. Welser is at rank #42,947, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛlzɐ].

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 45882, this pair ranks #1,337,921 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of weisen vs Welser

Shared letters: esw. Private to "weisen": in. Private to "Welser": lr.

"weisen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Welser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • weisenewisen · weiesn · weisenn · weisne · weissen · wesien · wweisen
  • Welserewlser · welesr · wellser · welserr · welsre · welsser · wesler · wleser

Frequency comparison

weisen#2,935
Welser#42,947

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "weisen" and "Welser" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "weisen" is a verb and "Welser" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "weisen" or "Welser"?
"weisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,935 in our German list, against #42,947 for "Welser". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering weisen vs Welser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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