wartenvswerfenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#848
“warten” frequency rank
#2,095
“werfen” frequency rank
2943
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature warten werfen
Definition Zeit verstreichen lassen beziehungsweise untätig sein, bis ein bestimmter Zustand eintrifft etwas in eine bestimmte Richtung schleudern

Where the eye mixes warten and werfen

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

6 ch
warten
6 ch
werfen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. warten ([ˈvaʁtn̩]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2943, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

warten is recorded at frequency rank #848, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvaʁtn̩]. 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 2943, this pair ranks #2,001,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of warten vs werfen

Shared letters: enrw. Private to "warten": at. Private to "werfen": f.

"warten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "werfen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wartenawrten · waretn · warrten · wartenn · wartne · wartten · watren · wraten
  • werfenewrfen · wefren · werefn · werfenn · werffen · werfne · werrfen · wrefen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "warten" and "werfen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaʁtn̩] versus [ˈvɛʁfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "warten" or "werfen"?
"warten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #848 in our German list, against #2,095 for "werfen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "warten" and "werfen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "warten" 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 #2,001,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "warten" and "werfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "warten 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list