WettervsWinterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,496
“Wetter” frequency rank
#1,249
“Winter” frequency rank
2745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wetter Winter
Definition aktueller Zustand der Atmosphäre an einem bestimmten Ort und zu einer bestimmten Zeit Jahreszeit nach dem Herbst und vor dem Frühling, auf der nördlichen Halbkugel Zeit von Dezember bis März

Where the eye mixes Wetter and Winter

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

6 ch
Wetter
6 ch
Winter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Wetter ([ˈvɛtɐ]) and Winter ([ˈvɪntɐ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wetter is recorded at frequency rank #1,496, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛtɐ]. Winter is at rank #1,249, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɪntɐ].

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 2745, this pair ranks #2,001,677 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wetter vs Winter

Shared letters: ertw. Private to "Wetter": -. Private to "Winter": in.

"Wetter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Winter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wetterewtter · weter · wetetr · wetterr · wettre · wteter · wwetter
  • Winteriwnter · winetr · winnter · winterr · wintre · wintter · witner · wniter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wetter" and "Winter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛtɐ] versus [ˈvɪntɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Wetter" or "Winter"?
"Winter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,249 in our German list, against #1,496 for "Wetter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Wetter" and "Winter". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Wetter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Winter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,677 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Wetter" and "Winter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wetter vs writer". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list