WünschevswünschteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Wünsche is a noun, wünschte is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Wünsche” is a noun and “wünschte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,440
“Wünsche” frequency rank
#4,013
“wünschte” frequency rank
5453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wünsche wünschte
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Wunsch 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs wünschen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wünsche and wünschte apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Wünsche
8 ch
wünschte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wünsche is [ˈvʏnʃə] while wünschte is [ˈvʏnʃtə]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wünsche is recorded at frequency rank #1,440, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʏnʃə]. wünschte is at rank #4,013, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvʏnʃtə].

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 5453, this pair ranks #1,994,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wünsche vs wünschte

Shared letters: cehnswü. Private to "Wünsche": -. Private to "wünschte": t.

"Wünsche" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCV  ·  "wünschte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCCV

Frequency comparison

Wünsche#1,440
wünschte#4,013

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wünsche" and "wünschte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wünsche" is a noun and "wünschte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wünsche" or "wünschte"?
"Wünsche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,440 in our German list, against #4,013 for "wünschte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wünsche vs wünschte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wünsche”; for a verb, it's “wünschte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wünsche” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list