wettenvswitternWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,171
“wetten” frequency rank
#38,529
“wittern” frequency rank
42700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wetten wittern
Definition Geld/Wert auf den Ausgang eines zukünftigen Ereignisses setzen; eine Wette abschließen etwas oder jemanden riechen

Where the eye mixes wetten and wittern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
wetten
7 ch
wittern

Why the eye confuses wetten with wittern

A purely visual mix-up. wetten ([ˈvɛtn̩]) and wittern ([ˈvɪtɐn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wetten is recorded at frequency rank #4,171, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛtn̩]. wittern is at rank #38,529, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪtɐn].

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 42700, this pair ranks #1,441,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wetten vs wittern

Shared letters: entw. Private to "wetten": -. Private to "wittern": ir.

"wetten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "wittern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wettenewtten · weten · wetetn · wettenn · wettne · wteten · wwetten
  • witterniwttern · witern · witetrn · wittenr · witternn · witterrn · wittren · wtitern

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wetten" and "wittern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛtn̩] versus [ˈvɪtɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wetten" or "wittern"?
"wetten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,171 in our German list, against #38,529 for "wittern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wetten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wittern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,441,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wetten" and "wittern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wettert vs wittern". 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 #1,441,300 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