warstvsWirtConfusable pair

Quick tell: warst is a verb, Wirt is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“warst” is a verb and “Wirt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,092
“warst” frequency rank
#9,301
“Wirt” frequency rank
12393
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature warst Wirt
Definition 2. Person Singular Präteritum Indikativ des Verbs sein jemand, der gegebenenfalls in einer Person privat oder kommerziell Gäste bewirtet oder ein Gastgeber, der vermietet und/oder beherbergt; ein Lokalinhaber, ein Wirtshausbesitzer und/oder Ausschenker in einem Lokal

Where the eye mixes warst and Wirt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. warst runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against Wirt's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
warst
4 ch
Wirt

Why the eye confuses warst with Wirt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: warst is [vaːɐ̯st] while Wirt is [vɪʁt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

warst is recorded at frequency rank #3,092, classified as averb, pronounced [vaːɐ̯st]. Wirt is at rank #9,301, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vɪʁt].

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 12393, this pair ranks #1,964,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of warst vs Wirt

Shared letters: rtw. Private to "warst": as. Private to "Wirt": i.

"warst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Wirt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • warst ← awrst · warrst · warsst · warstt · warts · wasrt · wrast · wwarst
  • Wirt ← iwrt · wirrt · wirtt · witr · writ · wwirt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "warst" and "Wirt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "warst" is a verb and "Wirt" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "warst" or "Wirt"?
"warst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,092 in our German list, against #9,301 for "Wirt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "warst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wirt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,964,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "warst" and "Wirt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs Wirt". 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 #1,964,444 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