währenvsWährungWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,465
“währen” frequency rank
#7,261
“Währung” frequency rank
41726
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature währen Währung
Definition sich über eine Zeitspanne erstrecken staatlich geregeltes Geldwesen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set währen and Währung apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
währen
7 ch
Währung

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: währen is [ˈvɛːʁən] while Währung is [ˈvɛːʁʊŋ]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41726, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

währen is recorded at frequency rank #34,465, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːʁən]. Währung is at rank #7,261, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛːʁʊŋ].

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 41726, this pair ranks #1,470,909 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of währen vs Währung

Shared letters: hnrwä. Private to "währen": e. Private to "Währung": gu.

"währen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Währung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

währen#34,465
Währung#7,261

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "währen" and "Währung" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "währen" is a verb and "Währung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "währen" or "Währung"?
"Währung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,261 in our German list, against #34,465 for "währen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering währen vs Währung

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “währen”; for a noun, it's “Währung”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “währen” 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