WarnungvsWartungTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,551
“Warnung” frequency rank
#13,066
“Wartung” frequency rank
18617
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Warnung Wartung
Definition Hinweis auf eine Gefahr Gesamtheit der Maßnahmen zur Prüfung und Instandhaltung, die die Abnutzung verhindern sollen

Where the eye mixes Warnung and Wartung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Warnung
7 ch
Wartung

Visual trap between Warnung and Wartung

A purely visual mix-up. Warnung ([ˈvaʁnʊŋ]) and Wartung ([ˈvaʁtʊŋ]) 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 - n in “Warnung” becomes t in “Wartung”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18617, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Warnung is recorded at frequency rank #5,551, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaʁnʊŋ]. Wartung is at rank #13,066, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaʁtʊŋ].

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 18617, this pair ranks #1,916,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Warnung vs Wartung

Shared letters: agnruw. Private to "Warnung": -. Private to "Wartung": t.

"Warnung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Wartung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Warnungawrnung · wanrung · warnnug · warnnung · warnugn · warnungg · warnunng · warrnung
  • Wartungawrtung · warrtung · wartnug · warttung · wartugn · wartungg · wartunng · warutng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Warnung" and "Wartung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaʁnʊŋ] versus [ˈvaʁtʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Warnung" vs "Wartung" - which ranks higher?
"Warnung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,551 in our German list, against #13,066 for "Wartung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Warnung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wartung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,916,545 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Warnung" and "Wartung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wartburg vs Wartung". 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 #1,916,545 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