welchervsWelserWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#805
“welcher” frequency rank
#42,947
“Welser” frequency rank
43752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature welcher Welser
Definition ein Interrogativpronomen (Fragepronomen) Angehöriger einer Patrizierfamilie von Großkaufleuten, die aus Augsburg und Nürnberg stammt

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
welcher
6 ch
Welser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: welcher is [ˈvɛlçɐ] while Welser is [ˈvɛlzɐ]. 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 43752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

welcher is recorded at frequency rank #805, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈvɛlçɐ]. 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 43752, this pair ranks #1,408,081 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of welcher vs Welser

Shared letters: elrw. Private to "welcher": ch. Private to "Welser": s.

"welcher" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Welser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • welcherewlcher · weclher · welccher · welcehr · welcherr · welchher · welchre · welhcer
  • Welserewlser · welesr · wellser · welserr · welsre · welsser · wesler · wleser

Frequency comparison

welcher#805
Welser#42,947

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "welcher" and "Welser" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "welcher" is a pronoun and "Welser" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "welcher" or "Welser"?
"welcher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #805 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 welcher vs Welser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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