wa

[vɑ̃]

/[vɑ̃]/ particle

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“wa” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #6,747) as a particle. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#6,747
frequency rank, German
2,930
“W” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - verschliffene Floskel für die eingeschobene, rhetorische Frage „Gelt es?“, „Gilt es?“, „Habe ich recht?“ oder „Nicht wahr?“, „Stimmt es?“, um sich der (vorausgesetzten) Zustimmung zu versichern. Di...

Corpus desk

Index DE-wa · wa · German

wa · rank #6,747 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,747
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,930
  • PHOTO-FINISH Vormittag

Nearest frequency peer: Vormittag (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “wa”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “wa” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

wa vs wo
50% similar
wa vs WM
0% similar
wa vs WE
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for wa
PropertyValue
Headwordwa
LanguageGerman
Part of speechParticle
IPA[vɑ̃]
Letters2
Frequency rank#6,747
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “wa” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).waliegt hier:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Vormittag“ (#6,746), „weitergehen“ (#6,748), „Vorgang“ (#6,745). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for wa is neighbouring look-alikes ("wo", "WM", …), not just typos; it is aparticle pronounced [vɑ̃]. Frequency #6,747 among 2,930 “W” headwords. Gloss: "verschliffene Floskel für die eingeschobene, rhetorische Frage „Gelt es?“, „Gilt es?“, „Habe ich recht?“ oder „Nicht wahr?“, „Stimmt es?“, um sich der (vorausgesetzten) Zustimmung zu versichern. Di...".

No generated misspelling entries exist for wa in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "wo", "WM", "WE", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is wa, spelled W-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    verschliffene Floskel für die eingeschobene, rhetorische Frage „Gelt es?“, „Gilt es?“, „Habe ich recht?“ oder „Nicht wahr?“, „Stimmt es?“, um sich der (vorausgesetzten) Zustimmung zu versichern. Die Frage wird nicht oder nur mit der gleichen Floskel beantwortet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how wa appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Schönes Wetter heute, wa?“ „Draußen, wa?“

Synonyms

gelt esgilt esnicht wahr

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wa"?
"wa" is spelled W-A. The IPA pronunciation is [vɑ̃].
What does "wa" mean?
As a particle, "wa" means: verschliffene Floskel für die eingeschobene, rhetorische Frage „Gelt es?“, „Gilt es?“, „Habe ich recht?“ oder „Nicht wahr?“, „Stimmt es?“, um sich der (vorausgesetzten) Zustimmung zu versichern. Di...
What words are commonly confused with "wa"?
"wa" is commonly confused with "wo", "WM", "WE". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wa" is [vɑ̃]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "wa" come from?
"wa" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

What to do next

You've looked up "wa". Here's where to go from here.

  • "wa" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "wo". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #6,747 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "W" letter cohort. W–Z browse

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

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list