Which to use
“wer” is a pronoun and “Wurf” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #133
- “wer” frequency rank
- #11,363
- “Wurf” frequency rank
- 11496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wer | Wurf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fragt nach einer Person oder mehreren Personen | Vorgang, Ergebnis einer Handlung, bei der ein Gegenstand unter Kraftaufwand über eine gewisse Entfernung durch die Luft befördert wird |
Where the eye mixes wer and Wurf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between wer and Wurf
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wer is [veːɐ̯] while Wurf is [vʊʁf]. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wer is recorded at frequency rank #133, classified as apron, pronounced [veːɐ̯]. Wurf is at rank #11,363, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vʊʁf].
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 11496, this pair ranks #1,969,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wer vs Wurf
Shared letters: rw. Private to "wer": e. Private to "Wurf": fu.
"wer" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Wurf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Wurf ← uwrf · wruf · wufr · wurff · wurrf · wwurf
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "wer" and "Wurf" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "wer" or "Wurf" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Wurf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,969,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wer" and "Wurf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wurf vs Würth". 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 #1,969,589 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.