VorwurfvsVorwürfenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,168
“Vorwurf” frequency rank
#16,598
“Vorwürfen” frequency rank
20766
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vorwurf Vorwürfen
Definition Äußerung, die jemanden beschuldigt oder jemandem Vorhaltungen macht Dativ Plural des Substantivs Vorwurf

Where the eye mixes Vorwurf and Vorwürfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Vorwurf runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against Vorwürfen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Vorwurf
9 ch
Vorwürfen

Visual trap between Vorwurf and Vorwürfen

A purely visual mix-up. Vorwurf ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvʊʁf]) and Vorwürfen ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvʏʁfn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vorwurf is recorded at frequency rank #4,168, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvʊʁf]. Vorwürfen is at rank #16,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvʏʁfn̩].

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 20766, this pair ranks #1,894,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Vorwurf vs Vorwürfen

Shared letters: forvw. Private to "Vorwurf": u. Private to "Vorwürfen": enü.

"Vorwurf" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Vorwürfen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vorwurfovrwurf · vorrwurf · voruwrf · vorwruf · vorwufr · vorwurff · vorwurrf · vorwwurf

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vorwurf" for "Vorwürfen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvʊʁf] versus [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌvʏʁfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Vorwurf" vs "Vorwürfen" - which ranks higher?
"Vorwurf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,168 in our German list, against #16,598 for "Vorwürfen". 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 "Vorwurf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorwürfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,894,005 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vorwurf" and "Vorwürfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwerfen vs Vorwürfen". 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 #1,894,005 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