wertenvsWertungTell them apart

Quick tell: werten is a verb, Wertung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“werten” is a verb and “Wertung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,846
“werten” frequency rank
#8,007
“Wertung” frequency rank
12853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature werten Wertung
Definition den ideellen Wert einer Sache beurteilen Einschätzung einer Sache

Where the eye mixes werten and Wertung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. werten runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against Wertung's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
werten
7 ch
Wertung

Look-alike desk: werten vs Wertung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: werten is [ˈveːɐ̯tn̩] while Wertung is [ˈveːɐ̯tʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

werten is recorded at frequency rank #4,846, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯tn̩]. Wertung is at rank #8,007, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯tʊŋ].

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 12853, this pair ranks #1,961,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of werten vs Wertung

Shared letters: enrtw. Private to "werten": -. Private to "Wertung": gu.

"werten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Wertung" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • werten ← ewrten · weretn · werrten · wertenn · wertne · wertten · wetren · wreten
  • Wertung ← ewrtung · werrtung · wertnug · werttung · wertugn · wertungg · wertunng · werutng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "werten" and "Wertung" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "werten" is a verb and "Wertung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "werten" or "Wertung" show up more?
"werten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,846 in our German list, against #8,007 for "Wertung". 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 "werten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wertung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,961,640 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "werten" and "Wertung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "warnten vs werten". 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 #1,961,640 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