Which to use
“Werkes” is a noun and “wirken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,361
- “Werkes” frequency rank
- #1,533
- “wirken” frequency rank
- 12894
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Werkes | wirken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Werk | tätig sein, nützlich sein, etwas schaffen, etwas vollbringen |
Where the eye mixes Werkes and wirken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Werkes and wirken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: Werkes vs wirken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Werkes is [ˈvɛʁkəs] while wirken is [ˈvɪʁkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Werkes is recorded at frequency rank #11,361, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈvɛʁkəs]. wirken is at rank #1,533, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈvɪʁkn̩].
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 12894, this pair ranks #1,961,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Werkes vs wirken
Shared letters: ekrw. Private to "Werkes": s. Private to "wirken": in.
"Werkes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "wirken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Werkes" for "wirken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Werkes" vs "wirken" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Werkes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "wirken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,961,369 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Werkes" and "wirken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "welke vs Werkes". 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 #1,961,369 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.