WeltkriegevsWeltkriegsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,837
“Weltkriege” frequency rank
#10,012
“Weltkriegs” frequency rank
35849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weltkriege Weltkriegs
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Weltkrieg Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Weltkrieg

Where the eye mixes Weltkriege and Weltkriegs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Weltkriege (CVCCCCVVCV) and Weltkriegs (CVCCCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
Weltkriege
10 ch
Weltkriegs

Visual trap between Weltkriege and Weltkriegs

A purely visual mix-up. Weltkriege ([ˈvɛltˌkʁiːɡə]) and Weltkriegs ([ˈvɛltˌkʁiːks]) 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 - e in “Weltkriege” becomes s in “Weltkriegs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weltkriege is recorded at frequency rank #25,837, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛltˌkʁiːɡə]. Weltkriegs is at rank #10,012, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛltˌkʁiːks].

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 35849, this pair ranks #1,630,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weltkriege vs Weltkriegs

Shared letters: egiklrtw. Private to "Weltkriege": -. Private to "Weltkriegs": s.

"Weltkriege" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCV  ·  "Weltkriegs" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weltkriege ← ewltkriege · welktriege · welltkriege · weltkirege · weltkkriege · weltkreige · weltkrieeg · weltkriegge
  • Weltkriegs ← ewltkriegs · welktriegs · welltkriegs · weltkiregs · weltkkriegs · weltkreigs · weltkrieggs · weltkriegss

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Weltkriege" and "Weltkriegs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛltˌkʁiːɡə] versus [ˈvɛltˌkʁiːks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Weltkriege" or "Weltkriegs" show up more?
"Weltkriegs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,012 in our German list, against #25,837 for "Weltkriege". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weltkriege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Weltkriegs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,630,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weltkriege" and "Weltkriegs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weltkriege vs Weltkriegen". 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 #1,630,026 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