Which to use
“white” is an adjective and “wohnte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,316
- “white” frequency rank
- #8,812
- “wohnte” frequency rank
- 13128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | white | wohnte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | weiß | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wohnen |
Where the eye mixes white and wohnte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses white with wohnte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: white is [waɪt] while wohnte is [ˈvoːntə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
white is recorded at frequency rank #4,316, classified as anadj, pronounced [waɪt]. wohnte is at rank #8,812, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvoːntə].
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 13128, this pair ranks #1,959,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of white vs wohnte
Shared letters: ehtw. Private to "white": i. Private to "wohnte": no.
"white" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "wohnte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "white" and "wohnte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "white" or "wohnte" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "white" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wohnte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,959,935 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "white" and "wohnte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wehte vs wohnte". 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 #1,959,935 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.