wirdvswirstWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43
“wird” frequency rank
#983
“wirst” frequency rank
1026
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wird wirst
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs werden 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens des Verbs werden

Where the eye mixes wird and wirst

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

4 ch
wird
5 ch
wirst

Look-alike desk: wird vs wirst

A purely visual mix-up. wird ([vɪʁt]) and wirst ([vɪʁst]) 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 1026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wird is recorded at frequency rank #43, classified as averb, pronounced [vɪʁt]. wirst is at rank #983, tagged as averb, pronounced [vɪʁst].

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 1026, this pair ranks #2,005,006 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wird vs wirst

Shared letters: irw. Private to "wird": d. Private to "wirst": st.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wirdiwrd · widr · wirdd · wirrd · wrid · wwird
  • wirstiwrst · wirrst · wirsst · wirstt · wirts · wisrt · wrist · wwirst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wird" and "wirst" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([vɪʁt] versus [vɪʁst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "wird" or "wirst"?
"wird" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43 in our German list, against #983 for "wirst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wird" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "wirst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,005,006 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wird" and "wirst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "wirst 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 #2,005,006 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