WertesvswertlosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Wertes is a noun, wertlos is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Wertes” is a noun and “wertlos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,374
“Wertes” frequency rank
#15,525
“wertlos” frequency rank
38899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Wertes wertlos
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Wert ohne Wert, keinen Wert habend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Wertes and wertlos apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Wertes
7 ch
wertlos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Wertes is [ˈveːɐ̯təs] while wertlos is [ˈveːɐ̯tˌloːs]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38899, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Wertes is recorded at frequency rank #23,374, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯təs]. wertlos is at rank #15,525, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈveːɐ̯tˌloːs].

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 38899, this pair ranks #1,551,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Wertes vs wertlos

Shared letters: erstw. Private to "Wertes": -. Private to "wertlos": lo.

"Wertes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "wertlos" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wertesewrtes · werets · werrtes · wertess · wertse · werttes · wetres · wretes
  • wertlosewrtlos · werltos · werrtlos · wertllos · wertloss · wertlso · wertols · werttlos

Frequency comparison

Wertes#23,374
wertlos#15,525

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Wertes" and "wertlos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Wertes" is a noun and "wertlos" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Wertes" or "wertlos"?
"wertlos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,525 in our German list, against #23,374 for "Wertes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Wertes vs wertlos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Wertes”; for an adjective, it's “wertlos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Wertes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list