wärestvswarstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#34,466
“wärest” frequency rank
#3,092
“warst” frequency rank
37558
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wärest warst
Definition 2. Person Singular Präteritum Konjunktiv des Verbs sein 2. Person Singular Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs sein

Where the eye mixes wärest and warst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. wärest runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against warst's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
wärest
5 ch
warst

Why the eye confuses wärest with warst

A purely visual mix-up. wärest ([ˈvɛːʁəst]) and warst ([vaːɐ̯st]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wärest is recorded at frequency rank #34,466, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛːʁəst]. warst is at rank #3,092, tagged as averb, pronounced [vaːɐ̯st].

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 37558, this pair ranks #1,587,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wärest vs warst

Shared letters: rstw. Private to "wärest": eä. Private to "warst": a.

"wärest" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "warst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • warst ← awrst · warrst · warsst · warstt · warts · wasrt · wrast · wwarst

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wärest" and "warst" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvɛːʁəst] versus [vaːɐ̯st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "wärest" vs "warst" - which ranks higher?
"warst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,092 in our German list, against #34,466 for "wärest". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wärest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "warst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,587,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wärest" and "warst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wärest vs wirkst". 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 #1,587,061 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