widersprechevswidersprichtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,881
“widerspreche” frequency rank
#8,008
“widerspricht” frequency rank
39889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature widerspreche widerspricht
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs widersprechen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs widersprechen

Where the eye mixes widerspreche and widerspricht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. widerspreche (CVCVCCCCVCCV) and widerspricht (CVCVCCCCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

12 ch
widerspreche
12 ch
widerspricht

Why the eye confuses widerspreche with widerspricht

A purely visual mix-up. widerspreche ([ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçə]) and widerspricht ([ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɪçt]) 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 39889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

widerspreche is recorded at frequency rank #31,881, classified as averb, pronounced [ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçə]. widerspricht is at rank #8,008, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɪçt].

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 39889, this pair ranks #1,524,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of widerspreche vs widerspricht

Shared letters: cdehiprsw. Private to "widerspreche": -. Private to "widerspricht": t.

"widerspreche" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVCCV  ·  "widerspricht" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • widerspreche ← iwderspreche · wdierspreche · widderspreche · widerpsreche · widerrspreche · widersperche · widersppreche · widersprcehe
  • widerspricht ← iwderspricht · wdierspricht · widderspricht · widerpsricht · widerrspricht · widerspircht · widersppricht · widersprciht

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "widerspreche" and "widerspricht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɛçə] versus [ˌviːdɐˈʃpʁɪçt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "widerspreche" or "widerspricht" show up more?
"widerspricht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,008 in our German list, against #31,881 for "widerspreche". 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 "widerspreche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "widerspricht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,524,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "widerspreche" and "widerspricht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "widerspreche vs Widersprüchen". 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 #1,524,022 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