welchevsWelpeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#262
“welche” frequency rank
#32,362
“Welpe” frequency rank
32624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature welche Welpe
Definition ein Interrogativpronomen (Fragepronomen) junger Fuchs, Wolf oder Hund

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
welche
5 ch
Welpe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: welche is [ˈvɛlçə] while Welpe is [ˈvɛlpə]. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

welche is recorded at frequency rank #262, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈvɛlçə]. Welpe is at rank #32,362, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛlpə].

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 32624, this pair ranks #1,703,601 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of welche vs Welpe

Shared letters: elw. Private to "welche": ch. Private to "Welpe": p.

"welche" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "Welpe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • welcheewlche · weclhe · welcche · welceh · welchhe · welhce · wellche · wleche
  • Welpeewlpe · welep · wellpe · welppe · weple · wlepe · wwelpe

Frequency comparison

welche#262
Welpe#32,362

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "welche" and "Welpe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "welche" is a pronoun and "Welpe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "welche" or "Welpe"?
"welche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #262 in our German list, against #32,362 for "Welpe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering welche vs Welpe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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