Which to use
“warn” and “wash” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,382
- “warn” frequency rank
- #44,357
- “wash” frequency rank
- 74739
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | warn | wash |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs warnen | waschen, säubern |
Where the eye mixes warn and wash
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. warn and wash follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between warn and wash
A purely visual mix-up. warn ([vaʁn]) and wash ([wɒʃ]) 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 74739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
warn is recorded at frequency rank #30,382, classified as averb, pronounced [vaʁn]. wash is at rank #44,357, tagged as averb, pronounced [wɒʃ].
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 74739, this pair ranks #325,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of warn vs wash
Shared letters: aw. Private to "warn": nr. Private to "wash": hs.
"warn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "wash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "warn" and "wash" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "warn" or "wash"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "warn" and "wash" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "warn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wash" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "warn" and "wash" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wash vs waste". 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 #325,651 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.