warfenvswerbenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,980
“warfen” frequency rank
#6,610
“werben” frequency rank
20590
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature warfen werben
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs werfen bekanntmachen, zum Kauf auffordern

Where the eye mixes warfen and werben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
warfen
6 ch
werben

Look-alike desk: warfen vs werben

A purely visual mix-up. warfen ([ˈvaʁfn̩]) and werben ([ˈvɛʁbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

warfen is recorded at frequency rank #13,980, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaʁfn̩]. werben is at rank #6,610, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛʁbn̩].

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 20590, this pair ranks #1,895,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of warfen vs werben

Shared letters: enrw. Private to "warfen": af. Private to "werben": b.

"warfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "werben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • warfenawrfen · wafren · warefn · warfenn · warffen · warfne · warrfen · wrafen
  • werbenewrben · webren · werbben · werbenn · werbne · werebn · werrben · wreben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "warfen" for "werben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaʁfn̩] versus [ˈvɛʁbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "warfen" or "werben" show up more?
"werben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,610 in our German list, against #13,980 for "warfen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "warfen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "werben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,895,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "warfen" and "werben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "warfen vs warnten". 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 #1,895,972 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