warfenvswerfenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,980
“warfen” frequency rank
#2,095
“werfen” frequency rank
16075
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature warfen werfen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs werfen etwas in eine bestimmte Richtung schleudern

Where the eye mixes warfen and werfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
warfen
6 ch
werfen

Visual trap between warfen and werfen

A purely visual mix-up. warfen ([ˈvaʁfn̩]) and werfen ([ˈvɛʁfn̩]) 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 a single letter - a in “warfen” becomes e in “werfen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16075, 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]. werfen is at rank #2,095, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛʁfn̩].

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 16075, this pair ranks #1,938,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of warfen vs werfen

Shared letters: efnrw. Private to "warfen": a. Private to "werfen": -.

"warfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "werfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • warfenawrfen · wafren · warefn · warfenn · warffen · warfne · warrfen · wrafen
  • werfenewrfen · wefren · werefn · werfenn · werffen · werfne · werrfen · wrefen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "warfen" for "werfen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaʁfn̩] versus [ˈvɛʁfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "warfen" or "werfen"?
"werfen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,095 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "warfen" and "werfen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "warfen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "werfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,938,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "warfen" and "werfen" 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 #1,938,814 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