werbenvsWerftenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: werben is a verb, Werften is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“werben” is a verb and “Werften” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,610
“werben” frequency rank
#45,696
“Werften” frequency rank
52306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature werben Werften
Definition bekanntmachen, zum Kauf auffordern Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Werft

Where the eye mixes werben and Werften

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
werben
7 ch
Werften

Why the eye confuses werben with Werften

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: werben is [ˈvɛʁbn̩] while Werften is [ˈvɛʁftn̩]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

werben is recorded at frequency rank #6,610, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈvɛʁbn̩]. Werften is at rank #45,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛʁftn̩].

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 52306, this pair ranks #1,101,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of werben vs Werften

Shared letters: enrw. Private to "werben": b. Private to "Werften": ft.

"werben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Werften" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • werbenewrben · webren · werbben · werbenn · werbne · werebn · werrben · wreben
  • Werftenewrften · wefrten · werfetn · werfften · werftenn · werftne · werftten · werrften

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "werben" for "Werften" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "werben" is a verb and "Werften" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "werben" or "Werften" show up more?
"werben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,610 in our German list, against #45,696 for "Werften". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "werben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Werften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,101,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "werben" and "Werften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "warnten vs Werften". 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 #1,101,918 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