wannvswarfWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: wann is a adverb, warf is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wann” is an adverb and “warf” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#592
“wann” frequency rank
#4,666
“warf” frequency rank
5258
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wann warf
Definition zu welchem Zeitpunkt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs werfen

Where the eye mixes wann and warf

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
wann
4 ch
warf

Why the eye confuses wann with warf

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wann is [van] while warf is [vaʁf]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wann is recorded at frequency rank #592, classified as anadv, pronounced [van]. warf is at rank #4,666, tagged as averb, pronounced [vaʁf].

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 5258, this pair ranks #1,995,334 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wann vs warf

Shared letters: aw. Private to "wann": n. Private to "warf": fr.

"wann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "warf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wannawnn · wan · wnan · wwann
  • warfawrf · wafr · warff · warrf · wraf · wwarf

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wann" and "warf" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wann" is an adverb and "warf" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wann" or "warf"?
"wann" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #592 in our German list, against #4,666 for "warf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "warf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,995,334 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wann" and "warf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wann vs wants". 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 #1,995,334 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