werdvsworkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,525
“werd” frequency rank
#7,425
“work” frequency rank
9950
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature werd work
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs werden einer (meist festen) bezahlten Arbeit nachgehen; arbeiten

Where the eye mixes werd and work

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
werd
4 ch
work

Look-alike desk: werd vs work

A purely visual mix-up. werd ([veːɐ̯t]) and work ([wɜːk]) 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 9950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

werd is recorded at frequency rank #2,525, classified as averb, pronounced [veːɐ̯t]. work is at rank #7,425, tagged as averb, pronounced [wɜːk].

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 9950, this pair ranks #1,977,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of werd vs work

Shared letters: rw. Private to "werd": de. Private to "work": ko.

"werd" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "work" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • werdewrd · wedr · werdd · werrd · wred · wwerd
  • workowrk · wokr · workk · worrk · wrok · wwork

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "werd" and "work" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([veːɐ̯t] versus [wɜːk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "werd" or "work"?
"werd" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,525 in our German list, against #7,425 for "work". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "werd" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "work" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,494 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "werd" and "work" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "went vs werd". 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 #1,977,494 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