welchemvswelchesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,795
“welchem” frequency rank
#712
“welches” frequency rank
2507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature welchem welches
Definition Dativ Singular des Pronomens welcher Genitiv Singular Maskulinum des Demonstrativpronomens welcher

Where the eye mixes welchem and welches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
welchem
7 ch
welches

Visual trap between welchem and welches

A purely visual mix-up. welchem ([ˈvɛlçəm]) and welches ([ˈvɛlçəs]) 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 a single letter - m in “welchem” becomes s in “welches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

welchem is recorded at frequency rank #1,795, classified as anunknown, pronounced [ˈvɛlçəm]. welches is at rank #712, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈvɛlçəs].

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 2507, this pair ranks #2,002,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of welchem vs welches

Shared letters: cehlw. Private to "welchem": m. Private to "welches": s.

"welchem" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "welches" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • welchemewlchem · weclhem · welcchem · welcehm · welchemm · welchhem · welchme · welhcem
  • welchesewlches · weclhes · welcches · welcehs · welchess · welchhes · welchse · welhces

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "welchem" for "welches" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛlçəm] versus [ˈvɛlçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "welchem" or "welches"?
"welches" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #712 in our German list, against #1,795 for "welchem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "welchem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "welches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,002,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "welchem" and "welches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weichei vs welchem". 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 #2,002,194 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