wettvswettenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#20,792
“wett” frequency rank
#4,171
“wetten” frequency rank
24963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wett wetten
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs wetten Geld/Wert auf den Ausgang eines zukünftigen Ereignisses setzen; eine Wette abschließen

Where the eye mixes wett and wetten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
wett
6 ch
wetten

Why the eye confuses wett with wetten

A purely visual mix-up. wett ([vɛt]) and wetten ([ˈvɛtn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “wett” sits inside “wetten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wett is recorded at frequency rank #20,792, classified as averb, pronounced [vɛt]. wetten is at rank #4,171, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛtn̩].

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 24963, this pair ranks #1,840,096 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wett vs wetten

Shared letters: etw. Private to "wett": -. Private to "wetten": n.

"wett" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "wetten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wettewtt · wtet · wwett
  • wettenewtten · weten · wetetn · wettenn · wettne · wteten · wwetten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "wett" for "wetten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([vɛt] versus [ˈvɛtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wett" or "wetten"?
"wetten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,171 in our German list, against #20,792 for "wett". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wett" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wetten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,840,096 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wett" and "wetten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs wett". 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 #1,840,096 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