WehvsWerthTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,474
“Weh” frequency rank
#27,135
“Werth” frequency rank
29609
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weh Werth
Definition seelischer Schmerz Flussinsel, vor allen Dingen gebräuchlich für Inseln im Rhein

Where the eye mixes Weh and Werth

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
Weh
5 ch
Werth

Visual trap between Weh and Werth

A purely visual mix-up. Weh ([veː]) and Werth ([veːɐ̯t]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weh is recorded at frequency rank #2,474, classified as anoun, pronounced [veː]. Werth is at rank #27,135, tagged as anoun, pronounced [veːɐ̯t].

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 29609, this pair ranks #1,763,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weh vs Werth

Shared letters: ehw. Private to "Weh": -. Private to "Werth": rt.

"Weh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Werth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Werthewrth · werrth · werthh · wertth · wetrh · wreth · wwerth

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weh" for "Werth" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([veː] versus [veːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Weh" vs "Werth" - which ranks higher?
"Weh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,474 in our German list, against #27,135 for "Werth". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Weh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Werth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,763,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weh" and "Werth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs Werth". 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 #1,763,647 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