welkevsWespeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: welke is a adjective, Wespe is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“welke” is an adjective and “Wespe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,128
“welke” frequency rank
#37,896
“Wespe” frequency rank
85024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature welke Wespe
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs welk schwarz-gelbes, stachelbewehrtes Insekt der Faltenwespen mit längsgefalteten Vorderflügeln und starken Oberkiefern

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set welke and Wespe apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
welke
5 ch
Wespe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: welke is [ˈvɛlkə] while Wespe is [ˈvɛspə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

welke is recorded at frequency rank #47,128, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɛlkə]. Wespe is at rank #37,896, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛspə].

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 85024, this pair ranks #114,638 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of welke vs Wespe

Shared letters: ew. Private to "welke": kl. Private to "Wespe": ps.

"welke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Wespe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • welkeewlke · wekle · welek · welkke · wellke · wleke · wwelke
  • Wespeewspe · wepse · wesep · wesppe · wesspe · wsepe · wwespe

Frequency comparison

welke#47,128
Wespe#37,896

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "welke" and "Wespe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "welke" is an adjective and "Wespe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "welke" or "Wespe"?
"Wespe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,896 in our German list, against #47,128 for "welke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering welke vs Wespe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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