WerdsvsworksWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,695
“Werds” frequency rank
#22,219
“works” frequency rank
67914
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Werds works
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Werd Plural des Substantivs work

Where the eye mixes Werds and works

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Werds
5 ch
works

Visual trap between Werds and works

A purely visual mix-up. Werds ([vɛʁt͡s]) and works ([wɜːks]) 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 67914, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Werds is recorded at frequency rank #45,695, classified as anoun, pronounced [vɛʁt͡s]. works is at rank #22,219, tagged as anoun, pronounced [wɜːks].

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 67914, this pair ranks #524,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Werds vs works

Shared letters: rsw. Private to "Werds": de. Private to "works": ko.

"Werds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "works" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Werdsewrds · wedrs · werdds · werdss · werrds · wersd · wreds · wwerds
  • worksowrks · wokrs · workks · workss · worrks · worsk · wroks · wworks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Werds" and "works" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vɛʁt͡s] versus [wɜːks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Werds" or "works" show up more?
"works" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,219 in our German list, against #45,695 for "Werds". 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 "Werds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "works" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #524,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Werds" and "works" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Weins vs Werds". 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 #524,640 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