wirftvsWürfeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,869
“wirft” frequency rank
#35,002
“Würfe” frequency rank
37871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wirft Würfe
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs werfen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Wurf

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set wirft and Würfe apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
wirft
5 ch
Würfe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wirft is [vɪʁft] while Würfe is [ˈvʏʁfə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wirft is recorded at frequency rank #2,869, classified as averb, pronounced [vɪʁft]. Würfe is at rank #35,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈvʏʁfə].

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 37871, this pair ranks #1,578,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wirft vs Würfe

Shared letters: frw. Private to "wirft": it. Private to "Würfe": .

"wirft" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "Würfe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • wirftiwrft · wifrt · wirfft · wirftt · wirrft · wirtf · wrift · wwirft

Frequency comparison

wirft#2,869
Würfe#35,002

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wirft" and "Würfe" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wirft" is a verb and "Würfe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wirft" or "Würfe"?
"wirft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,869 in our German list, against #35,002 for "Würfe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering wirft vs Würfe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “wirft”; for a noun, it's “Würfe”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “wirft” 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