wirbtvswirdConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,979
“wirbt” frequency rank
#43
“wird” frequency rank
11022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wirbt wird
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs werben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs werden

Where the eye mixes wirbt and wird

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

5 ch
wirbt
4 ch
wird

Visual trap between wirbt and wird

A purely visual mix-up. wirbt ([vɪʁpt]) and wird ([vɪʁt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wirbt is recorded at frequency rank #10,979, classified as averb, pronounced [vɪʁpt]. wird is at rank #43, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪʁt].

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 11022, this pair ranks #1,972,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wirbt vs wird

Shared letters: irw. Private to "wirbt": bt. Private to "wird": d.

"wirbt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "wird" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wirbtiwrbt · wibrt · wirbbt · wirbtt · wirrbt · wirtb · wribt · wwirbt
  • wirdiwrd · widr · wirdd · wirrd · wrid · wwird

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "wirbt" and "wird" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([vɪʁpt] versus [vɪʁt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "wirbt" or "wird" show up more?
"wird" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43 in our German list, against #10,979 for "wirbt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "wirbt" and "wird" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wirbt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wird" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,972,113 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wirbt" and "wird" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirbt vs wit". 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 #1,972,113 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