WertvsWortWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#562
“Wert” frequency rank
#527
“Wort” frequency rank
1089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wert Wort
Definition meist in Geld ausgedrücktes materielles Äquivalent einer Sache, einer Dienstleistung oder einer Information kleinste, eine selbstständige Bedeutung tragende Einheit der Sprache, eine grammatische Einheit

Where the eye mixes Wert and Wort

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

4 ch
Wert
4 ch
Wort

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Wert ([veːɐ̯t]) and Wort ([vɔʁt]) 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 a single letter - e in “Wert” becomes o in “Wort”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wert is recorded at frequency rank #562, classified as anoun, pronounced [veːɐ̯t]. Wort is at rank #527, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vɔʁt].

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 1089, this pair ranks #2,004,925 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wert vs Wort

Shared letters: rtw. Private to "Wert": e. Private to "Wort": o.

"Wert" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Wort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wertewrt · werrt · wertt · wetr · wret · wwert
  • Wortowrt · worrt · wortt · wotr · wrot · wwort

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wert" and "Wort" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([veːɐ̯t] versus [vɔʁt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Wert" or "Wort"?
"Wort" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #527 in our German list, against #562 for "Wert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list