werdevswerdenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#232
“werde” frequency rank
#45
“werden” frequency rank
277
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature werde werden
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs werden seinen Zustand ändern; einer Änderung unterlaufen

Where the eye mixes werde and werden

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

5 ch
werde
6 ch
werden

Look-alike desk: werde vs werden

A purely visual mix-up. werde ([ˈveːɐ̯də]) and werden ([ˈveːɐ̯dn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “werde” sits inside “werden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

werde is recorded at frequency rank #232, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯də]. werden is at rank #45, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯dn̩].

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 277, this pair ranks #2,006,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of werde vs werden

Shared letters: derw. Private to "werde": -. Private to "werden": n.

"werde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "werden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • werdeewrde · wedre · werdde · wered · werrde · wrede · wwerde
  • werdenewrden · wedren · werdden · werdenn · werdne · weredn · werrden · wreden

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "werde" and "werden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈveːɐ̯də] versus [ˈveːɐ̯dn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "werde" or "werden" show up more?
"werden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45 in our German list, against #232 for "werde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "werde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "werden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,006,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "werde" and "werden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "welke vs werde". 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 #2,006,056 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