wäschtvswurschtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wäscht is a verb, wurscht is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wäscht” is a verb and “wurscht” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,778
“wäscht” frequency rank
#22,575
“wurscht” frequency rank
42353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wäscht wurscht
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs waschen ohne Belang, ohne Bedeutung, ohne Interesse aus der Sicht der sich äußernden Person

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wäscht and wurscht apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
wäscht
7 ch
wurscht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wäscht is [vɛʃt] while wurscht is [vʊʁʃt]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wäscht is recorded at frequency rank #19,778, classified as averb, pronounced [vɛʃt]. wurscht is at rank #22,575, tagged as anadj, pronounced [vʊʁʃt].

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 42353, this pair ranks #1,451,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of wäscht vs wurscht

Shared letters: chstw. Private to "wäscht": ä. Private to "wurscht": ru.

"wäscht" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "wurscht" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wurschtuwrscht · wruscht · wurcsht · wurrscht · wursccht · wurschht · wurschtt · wurscth

Frequency comparison

wäscht#19,778
wurscht#22,575

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wäscht" and "wurscht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wäscht" is a verb and "wurscht" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wäscht" or "wurscht"?
"wäscht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,778 in our German list, against #22,575 for "wurscht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering wäscht vs wurscht

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “wäscht”; for an adjective, it's “wurscht”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wäscht” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list