welkevsWerkWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: welke is a adjective, Werk is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“welke” is an adjective and “Werk” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,128
“welke” frequency rank
#1,123
“Werk” frequency rank
48251
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature welke Werk
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs welk die Tätigkeit des Arbeitens an einer (umfangreichen) Sache

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set welke and Werk apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
welke
4 ch
Werk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: welke is [ˈvɛlkə] while Werk is [vɛʁk]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

welke is recorded at frequency rank #47,128, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈvɛlkə]. Werk is at rank #1,123, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vɛʁk].

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 48251, this pair ranks #1,255,374 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of welke vs Werk

Shared letters: ekw. Private to "welke": l. Private to "Werk": r.

"welke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Werk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • welkeewlke · wekle · welek · welkke · wellke · wleke · wwelke
  • Werkewrk · wekr · werkk · werrk · wrek · wwerk

Frequency comparison

welke#47,128
Werk#1,123

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "welke" and "Werk" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "welke" is an adjective and "Werk" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "welke" or "Werk"?
"Werk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,123 in our German list, against #47,128 for "welke". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering welke vs Werk

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “welke”; for a noun, it's “Werk”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “welke” 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