WeinevsWerkeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,898
“Weine” frequency rank
#1,530
“Werke” frequency rank
7428
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Weine Werke
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Wein Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Werk

Where the eye mixes Weine and Werke

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

5 ch
Weine
5 ch
Werke

Look-alike desk: Weine vs Werke

A purely visual mix-up. Weine ([ˈvaɪ̯nə]) and Werke ([ˈvɛʁkə]) 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 7428, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Weine is recorded at frequency rank #5,898, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvaɪ̯nə]. Werke is at rank #1,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛʁkə].

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 7428, this pair ranks #1,988,190 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Weine vs Werke

Shared letters: ew. Private to "Weine": in. Private to "Werke": kr.

"Weine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Werke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Weineewine · weien · wenie · wiene · wweine
  • Werkeewrke · wekre · werek · werkke · werrke · wreke · wwerke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Weine" for "Werke" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈvaɪ̯nə] versus [ˈvɛʁkə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Weine" or "Werke" show up more?
"Werke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,530 in our German list, against #5,898 for "Weine". 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 "Weine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Werke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,988,190 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Weine" and "Werke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weine vs went". 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 #1,988,190 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