# were vs word

> German confusable word pair

## The two words

### were
*verb · IPA [wɜː] · frequency rank #13,071*
2. Person Singular simple past des Verbs be

### word
*noun · IPA [wɜːd] · frequency rank #8,661*
kleinste selbstständige bedeutungstragende Einheit der Sprache

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/de/vs/were-vs-word